Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 094-0028
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Public Act 094-0028


 

Public Act 0028 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
Public Act 094-0028
 
SB0226 Enrolled LRB094 07769 JAM 37947 b

    AN ACT concerning government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Open Meetings Act is amended by changing
Sections 2.02 and 2.06 as follows:
 
    (5 ILCS 120/2.02)  (from Ch. 102, par. 42.02)
    Sec. 2.02. Public notice of all meetings, whether open or
closed to the public, shall be given as follows:
    (a) Every public body shall give public notice of the
schedule of regular meetings at the beginning of each calendar
or fiscal year and shall state the regular dates, times, and
places of such meetings. An agenda for each regular meeting
shall be posted at the principal office of the public body and
at the location where the meeting is to be held at least 48
hours in advance of the holding of the meeting. A public body
that has a website that the full-time staff of the public body
maintains shall also post on its website the agenda of any
regular meetings of the governing body of that public body. Any
agenda of a regular meeting that is posted on a public body's
website shall remain posted on the website until the regular
meeting is concluded. The requirement of a regular meeting
agenda shall not preclude the consideration of items not
specifically set forth in the agenda. Public notice of any
special meeting except a meeting held in the event of a bona
fide emergency, or of any rescheduled regular meeting, or of
any reconvened meeting, shall be given at least 48 hours before
such meeting, which notice shall also include the agenda for
the special, rescheduled, or reconvened meeting, but the
validity of any action taken by the public body which is
germane to a subject on the agenda shall not be affected by
other errors or omissions in the agenda. The requirement of
public notice of reconvened meetings does not apply to any case
where the meeting was open to the public and (1) it is to be
reconvened within 24 hours, or (2) an announcement of the time
and place of the reconvened meeting was made at the original
meeting and there is no change in the agenda. Notice of an
emergency meeting shall be given as soon as practicable, but in
any event prior to the holding of such meeting, to any news
medium which has filed an annual request for notice under
subsection (b) of this Section.
    (b) Public notice shall be given by posting a copy of the
notice at the principal office of the body holding the meeting
or, if no such office exists, at the building in which the
meeting is to be held. In addition, a public body that has a
website that the full-time staff of the public body maintains
shall post notice on its website of all meetings of the
governing body of the public body. Any notice of an annual
schedule of meetings shall remain on the website until a new
public notice of the schedule of regular meetings is approved.
Any notice of a regular meeting that is posted on a public
body's website shall remain posted on the website until the
regular meeting is concluded. The body shall supply copies of
the notice of its regular meetings, and of the notice of any
special, emergency, rescheduled or reconvened meeting, to any
news medium that has filed an annual request for such notice.
Any such news medium shall also be given the same notice of all
special, emergency, rescheduled or reconvened meetings in the
same manner as is given to members of the body provided such
news medium has given the public body an address or telephone
number within the territorial jurisdiction of the public body
at which such notice may be given. The failure of a public body
to post on its website notice of any meeting or the agenda of
any meeting shall not invalidate any meeting or any actions
taken at a meeting.
(Source: P.A. 88-621, eff. 1-1-95; 89-86, eff. 6-30-95.)
 
    (5 ILCS 120/2.06)  (from Ch. 102, par. 42.06)
    Sec. 2.06. (a) All public bodies shall keep written minutes
of all their meetings, whether open or closed, and a verbatim
record of all their closed meetings in the form of an audio or
video recording. Minutes shall include, but need not be limited
to:
        (1) the date, time and place of the meeting;
        (2) the members of the public body recorded as either
    present or absent; and
        (3) a summary of discussion on all matters proposed,
    deliberated, or decided, and a record of any votes taken.
    (b) The minutes of meetings open to the public shall be
available for public inspection within 7 days of the approval
of such minutes by the public body. Beginning July 1, 2006, at
the time it complies with the other requirements of this
subsection, a public body that has a website that the full-time
staff of the public body maintains shall post the minutes of a
regular meeting of its governing body open to the public on the
public body's website within 7 days of the approval of the
minutes by the public body. Beginning July 1, 2006, any minutes
of meetings open to the public posted on the public body's
website shall remain posted on the website for at least 60 days
after their initial posting.
    (c) The verbatim record may be destroyed without
notification to or the approval of a records commission or the
State Archivist under the Local Records Act or the State
Records Act no less than 18 months after the completion of the
meeting recorded but only after:
        (1) the public body approves the destruction of a
    particular recording; and
        (2) the public body approves minutes of the closed
    meeting that meet the written minutes requirements of
    subsection (a) of this Section.
    (d) Each public body shall periodically, but no less than
semi-annually, meet to review minutes of all closed meetings.
At such meetings a determination shall be made, and reported in
an open session that (1) the need for confidentiality still
exists as to all or part of those minutes or (2) that the
minutes or portions thereof no longer require confidential
treatment and are available for public inspection.
    (e) Unless the public body has made a determination that
the verbatim recording no longer requires confidential
treatment or otherwise consents to disclosure, the verbatim
record of a meeting closed to the public shall not be open for
public inspection or subject to discovery in any administrative
or judicial proceeding other than one brought to enforce this
Act. In the case of a civil action brought to enforce this Act,
the court, if the judge believes such an examination is
necessary, must conduct such in camera examination of the
verbatim record as it finds appropriate in order to determine
whether there has been a violation of this Act. In the case of
a criminal proceeding, the court may conduct an examination in
order to determine what portions, if any, must be made
available to the parties for use as evidence in the
prosecution. Any such initial inspection must be held in
camera. If the court determines that a complaint or suit
brought for noncompliance under this Act is valid it may, for
the purposes of discovery, redact from the minutes of the
meeting closed to the public any information deemed to qualify
under the attorney-client privilege. The provisions of this
subsection do not supersede the privacy or confidentiality
provisions of State or federal law.
    (f) Minutes of meetings closed to the public shall be
available only after the public body determines that it is no
longer necessary to protect the public interest or the privacy
of an individual by keeping them confidential.
(Source: P.A. 93-523, eff. 1-1-04; 93-974, eff. 1-1-05.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2006