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Public Act 099-0714
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| HB5683 Enrolled | LRB099 20544 RJF 45093 b |
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AN ACT concerning government.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Open Meetings Act is amended by changing |
Section 3 as follows:
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(5 ILCS 120/3) (from Ch. 102, par. 43)
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Sec. 3.
(a) Where the provisions of this Act are not |
complied with, or
where there is probable cause to believe that |
the provisions of this Act
will not be complied with, any |
person, including the State's Attorney
of the county in which |
such noncompliance
may occur, may bring a civil action in the |
circuit court for the judicial
circuit in which the alleged |
noncompliance has occurred or is about to occur,
or in which |
the affected public body has its principal office, prior to
or |
within 60 days of the meeting alleged to be in
violation of |
this Act or, if facts concerning the meeting are not discovered
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within the 60-day period,
within 60 days of the discovery of a |
violation by the State's
Attorney or, if the person timely |
files a request for review under Section 3.5, within 60 days of |
the decision by the Attorney General to resolve a request for |
review by a means other than the issuance of a binding opinion |
under subsection (e) of Section 3.5.
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Records that are obtained by a State's Attorney from a |
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public body for purposes of reviewing whether the public body |
has complied with this Act may not be disclosed to the public. |
Those records, while in the possession of the State's Attorney, |
are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information |
Act. |
(b) In deciding such a case the court may examine in camera |
any portion
of the minutes of a meeting at which a violation of |
the Act is alleged to
have occurred, and may take such |
additional evidence as it deems necessary.
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(c) The court, having due regard for orderly administration |
and the public
interest, as well as for the interests of the |
parties, may grant such
relief as it deems appropriate, |
including granting a relief
by mandamus requiring that a |
meeting be open
to the public, granting an injunction against |
future violations of this
Act, ordering the public body to make |
available to the public such portion
of the minutes of a |
meeting as is not
authorized to be kept confidential under this |
Act, or declaring null and
void any final action taken at a |
closed meeting in violation of this Act.
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(d) The court may assess against any party, except a |
State's Attorney,
reasonable attorney's fees and other |
litigation costs reasonably incurred
by any other party who |
substantially prevails in any action brought in
accordance with |
this Section, provided that costs may be assessed against
any |
private party or parties bringing an action pursuant to this |
Section
only upon the court's determination that the action is |