Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 094-1058
Illinois General Assembly

Previous General Assemblies

Public Act 094-1058


 

Public Act 1058 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
Public Act 094-1058
 
SB0585 Enrolled LRB094 04323 JAM 34352 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 1.02, 2.01, 2.05, and 2.06 and by adding Section 7 as
follows:
 
    (5 ILCS 120/1.02)  (from Ch. 102, par. 41.02)
    Sec. 1.02. For the purposes of this Act:
    "Meeting" means any gathering, whether in person or by
video or audio conference, telephone call, electronic means
(such as, without limitation, electronic mail, electronic
chat, and instant messaging), or other means of contemporaneous
interactive communication, of a majority of a quorum of the
members of a public body held for the purpose of discussing
public business.
    "Public body" includes all legislative, executive,
administrative or advisory bodies of the State, counties,
townships, cities, villages, incorporated towns, school
districts and all other municipal corporations, boards,
bureaus, committees or commissions of this State, and any
subsidiary bodies of any of the foregoing including but not
limited to committees and subcommittees which are supported in
whole or in part by tax revenue, or which expend tax revenue,
except the General Assembly and committees or commissions
thereof. "Public body" includes tourism boards and convention
or civic center boards located in counties that are contiguous
to the Mississippi River with populations of more than 250,000
but less than 300,000. "Public body" includes the Health
Facilities Planning Board. "Public body" does not include a
child death review team or the Illinois Child Death Review
Teams Executive Council established under the Child Death
Review Team Act or an ethics commission acting under the State
Officials and Employees Ethics Act.
(Source: P.A. 92-468, eff. 8-22-01; 93-617, eff. 12-9-03.)
 
    (5 ILCS 120/2.01)  (from Ch. 102, par. 42.01)
    Sec. 2.01. All meetings required by this Act to be public
shall be held at specified times and places which are
convenient and open to the public. No meeting required by this
Act to be public shall be held on a legal holiday unless the
regular meeting day falls on that holiday.
    A quorum of members of a public body must be physically
present at the location of an open meeting. If, however, an
open meeting of a public body (except one with jurisdiction
limited to a specific geographic area that is less than
statewide) is held simultaneously at one of its offices and one
or more other locations in a public building, which may include
other of its offices, through an interactive video conference
and the public body provides public notice and public access as
required under this Act for all locations, then members
physically present in those locations all count towards
determining a quorum. "Public building", as used in this
Section, means any building or portion thereof owned or leased
by any public body. The requirement that a quorum be physically
present at the location of an open meeting shall not apply,
however, to State advisory boards or bodies that do not have
authority to make binding recommendations or determinations or
to take any other substantive action.
    A quorum of members of a public body that is not a public
body with statewide jurisdiction must be physically present at
the location of a closed meeting. Other members who are not
physically present at a closed meeting of such a public body
may participate in the meeting by means of a video or audio
conference.
(Source: P.A. 88-621, eff. 1-1-95.)
 
    (5 ILCS 120/2.05)  (from Ch. 102, par. 42.05)
    Sec. 2.05. Recording meetings. Subject to the provisions of
Section 8-701 of the Code of Civil Procedure "An Act in
relation to the rights of witnesses at proceedings conducted by
a court, commission, administrative agency or other tribunal in
this State which are televised or broadcast or at which motion
pictures are taken", approved July 14, 1953, as amended, any
person may record the proceedings at meetings required to be
open by this Act by tape, film or other means. The authority
holding the meeting shall prescribe reasonable rules to govern
the right to make such recordings.
    If a witness at any meeting required to be open by this Act
which is conducted by a commission, administrative agency or
other tribunal, refuses to testify on the grounds that he may
not be compelled to testify if any portion of his testimony is
to be broadcast or televised or if motion pictures are to be
taken of him while he is testifying, the authority holding the
meeting shall prohibit such recording during the testimony of
the witness. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to
extend the right to refuse to testify at any meeting not
subject to the provisions of Section 8-701 of the Code of Civil
Procedure "An Act in relation to the rights of witnesses at
proceedings conducted by a court, commission, administrative
agency or other tribunal in this State which are televised or
broadcast or at which motion pictures are taken", approved July
14, 1953, as amended.
(Source: P.A. 82-378.)
 
    (5 ILCS 120/2.06)  (from Ch. 102, par. 42.06)
    Sec. 2.06. Minutes.
    (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 whether the members were physically
    present or present by means of video or audio conference;
    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. The failure
of a public body to strictly comply with the semi-annual review
of closed session written minutes, whether before or after the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General
Assembly, shall not cause the written minutes or related
verbatim record to become public or available for inspection in
any judicial proceeding, other than a proceeding involving an
alleged violation of this Act, if the public body, within 60
days of discovering its failure to strictly comply with the
technical requirements of this subsection, reviews the closed
session minutes and determines and thereafter reports in open
session that either (1) the need for confidentiality still
exists as to all or part of the minutes or verbatim record, or
(2) that the minutes or recordings 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; 94-28,
eff. 1-1-06; 94-542, eff. 8-10-05; revised 8-19-05.)
 
    (5 ILCS 120/7 new)
    Sec. 7. Attendance by a means other than physical presence.
    (a) If a quorum of the members of the public body is
physically present as required by Section 2.01, a majority of
the public body may allow a member of that body to attend the
meeting by other means if the member is prevented from
physically attending because of: (i) personal illness or
disability; (ii) employment purposes or the business of the
public body; or (iii) a family or other emergency. "Other
means" is by video or audio conference.
    (b) If a member wishes to attend a meeting by other means,
the member must notify the recording secretary or clerk of the
public body before the meeting unless advance notice is
impractical.
    (c) A majority of the public body may allow a member to
attend a meeting by other means only in accordance with and to
the extent allowed by rules adopted by the public body. The
rules must conform to the requirements and restrictions of this
Section, may further limit the extent to which attendance by
other means is allowed, and may provide for the giving of
additional notice to the public or further facilitate public
access to meetings.
    (d) The limitations of this Section shall not apply to (i)
closed meetings of public bodies with statewide jurisdiction or
(ii) open or closed meetings of State advisory boards or bodies
that do not have authority to make binding recommendations or
determinations or to take any other substantive action. State
advisory boards or bodies and public bodies with statewide
jurisdiction, however, may permit members to attend meetings by
other means only in accordance with and to the extent allowed
by specific procedural rules adopted by the body.

Effective Date: 1/1/2007