HB4409 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 16848 BDA 30258 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB4409

Introduced 1/14/2026, by Rep. Jackie Haas

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

5 ILCS 140/3

from Ch. 116, par. 203

Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that a law enforcement or correctional agency shall, promptly, either comply with or deny a request for public records within 15 business days (rather than within 5 business days) after its receipt of the request, unless the time for response is properly extended under certain provisions. Allows for an extension for not more than 15 business days from the original due date for the reason that the requested records are records that are partially exempt from disclosure but that require blurring of body camera footage by a law enforcement or correctional agency or other redactions by a law enforcement or correctional agency before making the remaining requested information available for inspection and copying.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by changing Section 3 as follows:

(5 ILCS 140/3) (from Ch. 116, par. 203)

Sec. 3. (a) Each public body shall make available to any person for inspection or copying all public records, except as otherwise provided in Sections 7 and 8.5 of this Act. Notwithstanding any other law, a public body may not grant to any person or entity, whether by contract, license, or otherwise, the exclusive right to access and disseminate any public record as defined in this Act.

(b) Subject to the fee provisions of Section 6 of this Act, each public body shall promptly provide, to any person who submits a request, a copy of any public record required to be disclosed by subsection (a) of this Section and shall certify such copy if so requested.

(c) Requests for inspection or copies shall be made in writing and directed to the public body. Written requests may be submitted to a public body via personal delivery, mail, telefax, or other means available to the public body. Electronic requests under this Section must appear in their entirety within the body of the electronic submission. As a cybersecurity measure, no public body shall be required to open electronically attached files or hyperlinks to view or access details of a request. A public body that receives a request that would require the public body to open hyperlinks or attached files shall, within 5 business days, notify the requester of the requirement that the entirety of an electronic request must appear within the body of the electronic submission. A public body may honor oral requests for inspection or copying. A public body may not require that a request be submitted on a standard form or require the requester to specify the purpose for a request, except to determine whether the records are requested for a commercial purpose or whether to grant a request for a fee waiver. All requests for inspection and copying received by a public body shall immediately be forwarded to its Freedom of Information officer or designee.

(d) Each public body, except for a law enforcement or correctional agency, shall, promptly, either comply with or deny a request for public records within 5 business days after its receipt of the request, unless the time for response is properly extended under subsection (e) of this Section. A law enforcement or correctional agency shall, promptly, either comply with or deny a request for public records within 15 business days after its receipt of the request, unless the time for response is properly extended under subsection (e) of this Section. Denial shall be in writing as provided in Section 9 of this Act. Failure to comply with a written request, extend the time for response, or deny a request within 5 business days after its receipt shall be considered a denial of the request. A public body that fails to respond to a request within the requisite periods in this Section but thereafter provides the requester with copies of the requested public records may not impose a fee for such copies. A public body that fails to respond to a request received may not treat the request as unduly burdensome under subsection (g).

(e) The time for response under this Section may be extended by the public body for not more than 5 business days from the original due date for any of the following reasons for the following periods of time:

(i) an extension for not more than 5 business days from the original due date for the reason that the requested records are stored in whole or in part at other locations than the office having charge of the requested records;

(ii) an extension for not more than 5 business days from the original due date for the reason that the request requires the collection of a substantial number of specified records;

(iii) an extension for not more than 5 business days from the original due date for the reason that the request is couched in categorical terms and requires an extensive search for the records responsive to it;

(iv) an extension for not more than 5 business days from the original due date for the reason that the requested records have not been located in the course of routine search and additional efforts are being made to locate them;

(v) an extension for not more than 5 business days from the original due date, except as provided under paragraph (viii) of this subsection (e), for the reason that the requested records require examination and evaluation by personnel having the necessary competence and discretion to determine if they are exempt from disclosure under Section 7 of this Act or should be revealed only with appropriate deletions;

(vi) an extension for not more than 5 business days from the original due date for the reason that the request for records cannot be complied with by the public body within the time limits prescribed by subsection (d) of this Section without unduly burdening or interfering with the operations of the public body;

(vii) an extension for not more than 5 business days from the original due date for the reason that there is a need for consultation, which shall be conducted with all practicable speed, with another public body or among 2 or more components of a public body having a substantial interest in the determination or in the subject matter of the request; or .

(viii) an extension for not more than 15 business days from the original due date for the reason that the requested records are records that are partially exempt from disclosure under Section 7 of this Act but that require blurring of body camera footage by a law enforcement or correctional agency or other redactions by a law enforcement or correctional agency before making the remaining requested information available for inspection and copying.

The person making a request and the public body may agree in writing to extend the time for compliance for a period to be determined by the parties. If the requester and the public body agree to extend the period for compliance, a failure by the public body to comply with any previous deadlines shall not be treated as a denial of the request for the records.

(f) When additional time is required for any of the above reasons, the public body shall, within 5 business days after receipt of the request, notify the person making the request of the reasons for the extension and the date by which the response will be forthcoming. Failure to respond within the time permitted for extension shall be considered a denial of the request. A public body that fails to respond to a request within the time permitted for extension but thereafter provides the requester with copies of the requested public records may not impose a fee for those copies. A public body that requests an extension and subsequently fails to respond to the request may not treat the request as unduly burdensome under subsection (g).

(g) Requests calling for all records falling within a category shall be complied with unless compliance with the request would be unduly burdensome for the complying public body and there is no way to narrow the request and the burden on the public body outweighs the public interest in the information. Before invoking this exemption, the public body shall extend to the person making the request an opportunity to confer with it in an attempt to reduce the request to manageable proportions. If any public body responds to a categorical request by stating that compliance would unduly burden its operation and the conditions described above are met, it shall do so in writing, specifying the reasons why it would be unduly burdensome and the extent to which compliance will so burden the operations of the public body. Such a response shall be treated as a denial of the request for information.

Repeated requests from the same person for the same records that are unchanged or identical to records previously provided or properly denied under this Act shall be deemed unduly burdensome under this provision.

(h) Each public body may promulgate rules and regulations in conformity with the provisions of this Section pertaining to the availability of records and procedures to be followed, including:

(i) the times and places where such records will be made available, and

(ii) the persons from whom such records may be obtained.

(i) The time periods for compliance or denial of a request to inspect or copy records set out in this Section shall not apply to requests for records made for a commercial purpose, requests by a recurrent requester, or voluminous requests. Such requests shall be subject to the provisions of Sections 3.1, 3.2, and 3.6 of this Act, as applicable.

(j) Within 5 business days after its receipt of the request, a public body that has a reasonable belief that a request was not submitted by a person may require the requester to verify orally or in writing that the requester is a person. The deadline for the public body to respond to the request shall be tolled until the requester verifies that he or she is a person. If the requester fails to verify that he or she is a person within 30 days after the public body requests such a verification, then the public body may deny the request. For purposes of this subsection (j), a public body may not require the requester to submit personal information, private information, or identifying information to verify that the requester is a person.

(Source: P.A. 104-438, eff. 1-1-26.)