Full Text of HB4715 99th General Assembly
HB4715sam001 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Sen. Christine Radogno Filed: 5/6/2016
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4715
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4715 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by | 5 | | changing Section 11 and by adding Section 11.6 as follows:
| 6 | | (5 ILCS 140/11) (from Ch. 116, par. 211)
| 7 | | Sec. 11.
(a) Any person denied access to inspect or copy | 8 | | any public
record by a public body
may file suit for injunctive | 9 | | or
declaratory relief.
| 10 | | (b) Where the denial is from a public body of the State, | 11 | | suit
may be filed in the circuit court for the county where the | 12 | | public body has
its principal office or where the person denied | 13 | | access resides.
| 14 | | (c) Where the denial is from a municipality or other public
| 15 | | body, except as provided in subsection (b) of this Section, | 16 | | suit may be filed
in the circuit court for the county where the |
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| 1 | | public body is located.
| 2 | | (d) The circuit court shall have the jurisdiction to enjoin | 3 | | the public
body from withholding public records and to order | 4 | | the production of any
public records improperly withheld from | 5 | | the person seeking access. If the
public body can show that | 6 | | exceptional circumstances exist, and that the
body is | 7 | | exercising due diligence in responding to the request, the | 8 | | court
may retain jurisdiction and allow the agency additional | 9 | | time to complete
its review of the records.
| 10 | | (e) On motion of the plaintiff, prior to or after in camera
| 11 | | inspection, the court shall order the public body
to provide an | 12 | | index of the records to which access has been denied. The
index | 13 | | shall include the following:
| 14 | | (i) A description of the nature or contents of each | 15 | | document
withheld, or each deletion from a released | 16 | | document, provided, however,
that the public body shall not | 17 | | be required to disclose the information
which it asserts is | 18 | | exempt; and
| 19 | | (ii) A statement of the exemption or exemptions claimed | 20 | | for each such
deletion or withheld document.
| 21 | | (f) In any action considered by the court, the court shall | 22 | | consider the
matter de novo, and shall conduct such in camera | 23 | | examination of the requested
records as it finds appropriate to | 24 | | determine if such records or any part
thereof may be withheld | 25 | | under any provision of this Act. The burden shall
be on the | 26 | | public body to establish that its refusal to permit public |
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| 1 | | inspection
or copying is in accordance with the provisions of | 2 | | this Act. Any public body that asserts that a record is exempt | 3 | | from disclosure has the burden of proving that it is exempt by | 4 | | clear and convincing evidence.
| 5 | | (g) In the event of noncompliance with an order of the | 6 | | court to disclose,
the court may enforce its order against any | 7 | | public official or employee
so ordered or primarily responsible | 8 | | for such noncompliance through the court's
contempt powers.
| 9 | | (h) Except as to causes the court considers to be of | 10 | | greater importance,
proceedings arising under this Section | 11 | | shall take precedence on the docket
over all other causes and | 12 | | be assigned for hearing and trial at the earliest
practicable | 13 | | date and expedited in every way.
| 14 | | (i) If a person seeking the right to inspect or receive a | 15 | | copy of a public
record prevails in a
proceeding under this | 16 | | Section, the court shall award such
person reasonable | 17 | | attorney's attorneys' fees and costs. In determining what | 18 | | amount of attorney's fees is reasonable, the court shall | 19 | | consider the degree to which the relief obtained relates to the | 20 | | relief sought. The changes contained in this subsection apply | 21 | | to an action filed on or after January 1, 2010 ( the effective | 22 | | date of Public Act 96-542) this amendatory Act of the 96th | 23 | | General Assembly .
| 24 | | (j) If the court determines that a public body willfully | 25 | | and intentionally failed to comply with this Act, or otherwise | 26 | | acted in bad faith, the court shall also impose upon the public |
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| 1 | | body a civil penalty of not less than $2,500 nor more than | 2 | | $5,000 for each occurrence. In assessing the civil penalty, the | 3 | | court shall consider in aggravation or mitigation the budget of | 4 | | the public body and whether the public body has previously been | 5 | | assessed penalties for violations of this Act. If the public | 6 | | body fails to comply with the court's order after 30 days and | 7 | | the court's order is not on appeal or stayed, the court may | 8 | | impose an additional penalty of up to $1,000 for each day the | 9 | | violation continues. The changes contained in this subsection | 10 | | that are made by Public Act 96-542 apply to an action filed on | 11 | | or after January 1, 2010 ( the effective date of Public Act | 12 | | 96-542) this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly . | 13 | | (k) The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act | 14 | | of the 99th General Assembly apply to actions filed on or after | 15 | | the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General | 16 | | Assembly. | 17 | | (Source: P.A. 96-542, eff. 1-1-10; 97-813, eff. 7-13-12; | 18 | | revised 10-14-15.)
| 19 | | (5 ILCS 140/11.6 new) | 20 | | Sec. 11.6. Noncompliance with binding opinion. | 21 | | (a) The requester may file an action under Section 11 and | 22 | | it shall be presumed that the public body willfully and | 23 | | intentionally failed to comply with this Act for purposes of | 24 | | subsection (j) of Section 11 if: | 25 | | (1) the Public Access Counselor issues a binding |
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| 1 | | opinion pursuant to Section 9.5; | 2 | | (2) the public body does not file for administrative | 3 | | review of the binding opinion within 30 days after issuance | 4 | | of the opinion; and | 5 | | (3) the public body does not comply with the binding | 6 | | opinion within 30 days after issuance of the opinion. | 7 | | (b) This Section applies to binding opinions of the Public | 8 | | Access Counselor requested or issued on or after the effective | 9 | | date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly. ".
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