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| | HB0248 Engrossed | | LRB099 04859 JLK 24888 b |
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1 | | AN ACT concerning government.
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2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | | Section 5. The Open Meetings Act is amended by changing |
5 | | Section 3 as follows:
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6 | | (5 ILCS 120/3) (from Ch. 102, par. 43)
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7 | | Sec. 3.
(a) Where the provisions of this Act are not |
8 | | complied with, or
where there is probable cause to believe that |
9 | | the provisions of this Act
will not be complied with, any |
10 | | person, including the State's Attorney
of the county in which |
11 | | such noncompliance
may occur, may bring a civil action in the |
12 | | circuit court for the judicial
circuit in which the alleged |
13 | | noncompliance has occurred or is about to occur,
or in which |
14 | | the affected public body has its principal office, prior to
or |
15 | | within 60 days of the meeting alleged to be in
violation of |
16 | | this Act or, if facts concerning the meeting are not discovered
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17 | | within the 60-day period,
within 60 days of the discovery of a |
18 | | violation by the State's
Attorney.
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19 | | Records that are obtained by a State's Attorney from a |
20 | | public body for purposes of reviewing whether the public body |
21 | | has complied with this Act may not be disclosed to the public. |
22 | | Those records, while in the possession of the State's Attorney, |
23 | | are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information |
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| | HB0248 Engrossed | - 2 - | LRB099 04859 JLK 24888 b |
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1 | | Act. |
2 | | (b) In deciding such a case the court may examine in camera |
3 | | any portion
of the minutes of a meeting at which a violation of |
4 | | the Act is alleged to
have occurred, and may take such |
5 | | additional evidence as it deems necessary.
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6 | | (c) The court, having due regard for orderly administration |
7 | | and the public
interest, as well as for the interests of the |
8 | | parties, may grant such
relief as it deems appropriate, |
9 | | including granting a relief
by mandamus requiring that a |
10 | | meeting be open
to the public, granting an injunction against |
11 | | future violations of this
Act, ordering the public body to make |
12 | | available to the public such portion
of the minutes of a |
13 | | meeting as is not
authorized to be kept confidential under this |
14 | | Act, or declaring null and
void any final action taken at a |
15 | | closed meeting in violation of this Act , or declaring null and |
16 | | void a final action taken at an open meeting in violation of |
17 | | this Act, but only if a civil action alleging the violation is |
18 | | commenced within 60 days of that meeting and the alleged |
19 | | violation is directly and substantially related to that final |
20 | | action .
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21 | | (d) The court may assess against any party, except a |
22 | | State's Attorney,
reasonable attorney's fees and other |
23 | | litigation costs reasonably incurred
by any other party who |
24 | | substantially prevails in any action brought in
accordance with |
25 | | this Section, provided that costs may be assessed against
any |
26 | | private party or parties bringing an action pursuant to this |