SB1796eng 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB1796 Engrossed LRB104 09386 RTM 19445 b

AN ACT concerning local 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 6 as follows:

(5 ILCS 140/6) (from Ch. 116, par. 206)

Sec. 6. Authority to charge fees.

(a) When a person requests a copy of a record maintained in an electronic format, the public body shall furnish it in the electronic format specified by the requester, if feasible. If it is not feasible to furnish the public records in the specified electronic format, then the public body shall furnish it in the format in which it is maintained by the public body, or in paper format at the option of the requester. A public body may charge the requester for the actual cost of purchasing the recording medium, whether disc, diskette, tape, or other medium. If a request is not a request for a commercial purpose or a voluminous request, a public body may not charge the requester for the costs of any search for and review of the records or other personnel costs associated with reproducing the records. Except to the extent that the General Assembly expressly provides, statutory fees applicable to copies of public records when furnished in a paper format shall not be applicable to those records when furnished in an electronic format.

(a-5) If a voluminous request is for electronic records and those records are not in a portable document format (PDF), the public body may charge up to $20 for not more than 2 megabytes of data, up to $40 for more than 2 but not more than 4 megabytes of data, and up to $100 for more than 4 megabytes of data. If a voluminous request is for electronic records and those records are in a portable document format, the public body may charge up to $20 for not more than 80 megabytes of data, up to $40 for more than 80 megabytes but not more than 160 megabytes of data, and up to $100 for more than 160 megabytes of data. If the responsive electronic records are in both a portable document format and not in a portable document format, the public body may separate the fees and charge the requester under both fee scales.

If a public body imposes a fee pursuant to this subsection (a-5), it must provide the requester with an accounting of all fees, costs, and personnel hours in connection with the request for public records.

(b) Except when a fee is otherwise fixed by statute, each public body may charge fees reasonably calculated to reimburse its actual cost for reproducing and certifying public records and for the use, by any person, of the equipment of the public body to copy records. No fees shall be charged for the first 50 pages of black and white, letter or legal sized copies requested by a requester. The fee for black and white, letter or legal sized copies shall not exceed 15 cents per page. If a public body provides copies in color or in a size other than letter or legal, the public body may not charge more than its actual cost for reproducing the records. In calculating its actual cost for reproducing records or for the use of the equipment of the public body to reproduce records, a public body shall not include the costs of any search for and review of the records or other personnel costs associated with reproducing the records, except for commercial requests as provided in subsection (f) of this Section. Such fees shall be imposed according to a standard scale of fees, established and made public by the body imposing them. The cost for certifying a record shall not exceed $1.

(c) Documents shall be furnished without charge or at a reduced charge, as determined by the public body, if the person requesting the documents states the specific purpose for the request and indicates that a waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest. Waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest if the principal purpose of the request is to access and disseminate information regarding the health, safety, and welfare or the legal rights of the general public and is not for the principal purpose of personal or commercial benefit. For purposes of this subsection, "commercial benefit" shall not apply to requests made by news media when the principal purpose of the request is to access and disseminate information regarding the health, safety, and welfare or the legal rights of the general public. In setting the amount of the waiver or reduction, the public body may take into consideration the amount of materials requested and the cost of copying them.

(d) The imposition of a fee not consistent with subsections (6)(a) and (b) of this Act constitutes a denial of access to public records for the purposes of judicial review.

(e) The fee for each abstract of a driver's record shall be as provided in Section 6-118 of "The Illinois Vehicle Code", approved September 29, 1969, as amended, whether furnished as a paper copy or as an electronic copy.

(f) A public body may charge up to $10 for each hour spent by personnel in searching for and retrieving a requested record or examining the record for or applying necessary redactions. No fees shall be charged for the first 8 hours spent by personnel in searching for or retrieving a requested record, except for records subject to subsection (f-5) of this Section. A public body may charge the actual cost of retrieving and transporting public records from an off-site storage facility when the public records are maintained by a third-party storage company under contract with the public body. If a public body imposes a fee pursuant to this subsection (f), it must provide the requester with an accounting of all fees, costs, and personnel hours in connection with the request for public records. The provisions of this subsection (f) apply only to commercial requests made for a commercial purpose as defined in subsection (c-10) of Section 2 of this Act.

(f-5) For recordings that are made pursuant to the Law Enforcement Officer-Worn Body Camera Act, a public body may charge fees reflecting its actual costs up to $40 for each hour spent by personnel in searching for and retrieving a requested recording or examining the recording for or applying necessary redactions on requests unless the request is made by:

(1) a court order;

(2) the subject of the encounter or the subject's legal representative;

(3) a witness to the encounter or the witness's representative, if the encounter resulted in the recording being flagged;

(4) a representative of the news media, as defined in subsection (f) of Section 2 of this Act; or

(5) a nonprofit, scientific, or academic organization when the principal purpose of the request is (i) to access and disseminate information concerning news and current or passing events, (ii) for articles of opinion or features of interest to the public, or (iii) for the purpose of academic, scientific, or public research or education.

If a public body imposes a fee under this subsection (f-5), the public body shall, within 5 business days after the public body's receipt of the request, provide the requester with an estimated time that will be required for the public body to provide the recordings requested and an estimate of the fees to be charged. A public body that fails to provide an estimate of fees within 5 business days of the request may not impose a fee for those copies. The deadline for the public body to respond to a request that includes officer-worn body camera video shall be tolled until the requester pays the estimated fee. The public body shall have an additional 5 business days to respond to a request once payment of the estimated fee is made, as well as any extensions allowed under subsection (e) of Section 3 or other applicable provisions of this Act. If the requester fails to pay the estimated fees within 30 days after the public body requests payment of the estimated fee, then the public body may deny the request. If a public body imposes a fee under this subsection (f-5), it must provide the requester with an accounting of all fees, costs, and personnel hours in connection with the request for public records and must apply a new balance or refund paid amounts based on the actual cost versus the paid estimate.

A requester who can demonstrate that the purpose of the requester's request under this subsection is to access and disseminate information in order to further the interest of the health, safety, and welfare or the legal rights of the community where the requester lives is eligible for a waiver or reduction of the fees provided for under this subsection.

(Source: P.A. 97-579, eff. 8-26-11; 98-1129, eff. 12-3-14.)