Full Text of HB5125 103rd General Assembly
HB5125 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | | | 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024 HB5125 Introduced 2/8/2024, by Rep. Dennis Tipsword, Jr. - Patrick Windhorst and Dave Severin SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: | | 5 ILCS 140/3 | from Ch. 116, par. 203 |
| Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that, if a request for public records for officer-worn body camera recorded audio or video is received by a public body, the public body shall either comply with or deny the request within 15 business days (rather than 5 days) after its receipt of the request. Allows an extension to the time to respond to a request for officer-worn body camera recorded audio or video to 15 business days (rather than 5 business days). |
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning government. | 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 | | represented in the General Assembly: | 4 | | Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by | 5 | | changing Section 3 as follows: | 6 | | (5 ILCS 140/3) (from Ch. 116, par. 203) | 7 | | Sec. 3. (a) Each public body shall make available to any | 8 | | person for inspection or copying all public records, except as | 9 | | otherwise provided in Sections 7 and 8.5 of this Act. | 10 | | Notwithstanding any other law, a public body may not grant to | 11 | | any person or entity, whether by contract, license, or | 12 | | otherwise, the exclusive right to access and disseminate any | 13 | | public record as defined in this Act. | 14 | | (b) Subject to the fee provisions of Section 6 of this Act, | 15 | | each public body shall promptly provide, to any person who | 16 | | submits a request, a copy of any public record required to be | 17 | | disclosed by subsection (a) of this Section and shall certify | 18 | | such copy if so requested. | 19 | | (c) Requests for inspection or copies shall be made in | 20 | | writing and directed to the public body. Written requests may | 21 | | be submitted to a public body via personal delivery, mail, | 22 | | telefax, or other means available to the public body. A public | 23 | | body may honor oral requests for inspection or copying. A |
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| 1 | | public body may not require that a request be submitted on a | 2 | | standard form or require the requester to specify the purpose | 3 | | for a request, except to determine whether the records are | 4 | | requested for a commercial purpose or whether to grant a | 5 | | request for a fee waiver. All requests for inspection and | 6 | | copying received by a public body shall immediately be | 7 | | forwarded to its Freedom of Information officer or designee. | 8 | | (d) Each public body shall, promptly, either comply with | 9 | | or deny a request for public records within 5 business days | 10 | | after its receipt of the request, unless the time for response | 11 | | is properly extended under subsection (e) of this Section or | 12 | | unless time of response is covered under subsection (d-5) . | 13 | | Denial shall be in writing as provided in Section 9 of this | 14 | | Act. Failure to comply with a written request, extend the time | 15 | | for response, or deny a request within 5 business days after | 16 | | its receipt shall be considered a denial of the request. A | 17 | | public body that fails to respond to a request within the | 18 | | requisite periods in this Section but thereafter provides the | 19 | | requester with copies of the requested public records may not | 20 | | impose a fee for such copies. A public body that fails to | 21 | | respond to a request received may not treat the request as | 22 | | unduly burdensome under subsection (g). | 23 | | (d-5) If a request for public records for officer-worn | 24 | | body camera recorded audio or video allowed under subsection | 25 | | (b) of Section 10-20 of the Law Enforcement Officer-Worn Body | 26 | | Camera Act is received by a public body, the public body shall, |
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| 1 | | promptly, either comply with or deny a request for the audio or | 2 | | video within 15 business days after its receipt of the | 3 | | request. The time for a response under this subsection may be | 4 | | extended by the public body for not more than 15 business days | 5 | | from the original due date for any of the reasons allowed under | 6 | | subsection (e) unless the person making the request and the | 7 | | public body make an agreement in writing to extend the time for | 8 | | compliance as allowed under subsection (e). | 9 | | (e) Except as provided in subsection (d-5), the The time | 10 | | for response under this Section may be extended by the public | 11 | | body for not more than 5 business days from the original due | 12 | | date for any of the following reasons: | 13 | | (i) the requested records are stored in whole or in | 14 | | part at other locations than the office having charge of | 15 | | the requested records; | 16 | | (ii) the request requires the collection of a | 17 | | substantial number of specified records; | 18 | | (iii) the request is couched in categorical terms and | 19 | | requires an extensive search for the records responsive to | 20 | | it; | 21 | | (iv) the requested records have not been located in | 22 | | the course of routine search and additional efforts are | 23 | | being made to locate them; | 24 | | (v) the requested records require examination and | 25 | | evaluation by personnel having the necessary competence | 26 | | and discretion to determine if they are exempt from |
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| 1 | | disclosure under Section 7 of this Act or should be | 2 | | revealed only with appropriate deletions; | 3 | | (vi) the request for records cannot be complied with | 4 | | by the public body within the time limits prescribed by | 5 | | subsection (d) of this Section without unduly burdening or | 6 | | interfering with the operations of the public body; | 7 | | (vii) there is a need for consultation, which shall be | 8 | | conducted with all practicable speed, with another public | 9 | | body or among 2 or more components of a public body having | 10 | | a substantial interest in the determination or in the | 11 | | subject matter of the request. | 12 | | The person making a request and the public body may agree | 13 | | in writing to extend the time for compliance for a period to be | 14 | | determined by the parties. If the requester and the public | 15 | | body agree to extend the period for compliance, a failure by | 16 | | the public body to comply with any previous deadlines shall | 17 | | not be treated as a denial of the request for the records. | 18 | | (f) When additional time is required for any of the above | 19 | | reasons, the public body shall, within 5 business days after | 20 | | receipt of the request, notify the person making the request | 21 | | of the reasons for the extension and the date by which the | 22 | | response will be forthcoming. Failure to respond within the | 23 | | time permitted for extension shall be considered a denial of | 24 | | the request. A public body that fails to respond to a request | 25 | | within the time permitted for extension but thereafter | 26 | | provides the requester with copies of the requested public |
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| 1 | | records may not impose a fee for those copies. A public body | 2 | | that requests an extension and subsequently fails to respond | 3 | | to the request may not treat the request as unduly burdensome | 4 | | under subsection (g). | 5 | | (g) Requests calling for all records falling within a | 6 | | category shall be complied with unless compliance with the | 7 | | request would be unduly burdensome for the complying public | 8 | | body and there is no way to narrow the request and the burden | 9 | | on the public body outweighs the public interest in the | 10 | | information. Before invoking this exemption, the public body | 11 | | shall extend to the person making the request an opportunity | 12 | | to confer with it in an attempt to reduce the request to | 13 | | manageable proportions. If any public body responds to a | 14 | | categorical request by stating that compliance would unduly | 15 | | burden its operation and the conditions described above are | 16 | | met, it shall do so in writing, specifying the reasons why it | 17 | | would be unduly burdensome and the extent to which compliance | 18 | | will so burden the operations of the public body. Such a | 19 | | response shall be treated as a denial of the request for | 20 | | information. | 21 | | Repeated requests from the same person for the same | 22 | | records that are unchanged or identical to records previously | 23 | | provided or properly denied under this Act shall be deemed | 24 | | unduly burdensome under this provision. | 25 | | (h) Each public body may promulgate rules and regulations | 26 | | in conformity with the provisions of this Section pertaining |
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| 1 | | to the availability of records and procedures to be followed, | 2 | | including: | 3 | | (i) the times and places where such records will be | 4 | | made available, and | 5 | | (ii) the persons from whom such records may be | 6 | | obtained. | 7 | | (i) The time periods for compliance or denial of a request | 8 | | to inspect or copy records set out in this Section shall not | 9 | | apply to requests for records made for a commercial purpose, | 10 | | requests by a recurrent requester, or voluminous requests. | 11 | | Such requests shall be subject to the provisions of Sections | 12 | | 3.1, 3.2, and 3.6 of this Act, as applicable. | 13 | | (Source: P.A. 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.) |
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