101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
SB3562

 

Introduced 2/14/2020, by Sen. John F. Curran

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
5 ILCS 120/2.06  from Ch. 102, par. 42.06

    Amends the Open Meetings Act. Provides that each public body shall periodically (currently, specifies no less than semi-annually) meet to review minutes of all closed meetings. Provides that meetings to review minutes shall occur every 6 months, or as soon thereafter as is practicable, taking into account the nature and meeting schedule of the public body. Provides that committees which are ad hoc in nature shall review closed session minutes at the later of (1) 6 months from the date of the last review of closed session minutes or (2) at the next scheduled meeting of the ad hoc committee. Provides that when a public body is dissolved, disbanded, eliminated, or consolidated by executive action, legislative action, or referendum, the governing body of the unit of local government in which the public body was located shall review the closed session minutes of that public body.


LRB101 18542 RJF 67996 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB3562LRB101 18542 RJF 67996 b

1    AN ACT concerning government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Open Meetings Act is amended by changing
5Section 2.06 as follows:
 
6    (5 ILCS 120/2.06)  (from Ch. 102, par. 42.06)
7    Sec. 2.06. Minutes; right to speak.
8    (a) All public bodies shall keep written minutes of all
9their meetings, whether open or closed, and a verbatim record
10of all their closed meetings in the form of an audio or video
11recording. Minutes shall include, but need not be limited to:
12        (1) the date, time and place of the meeting;
13        (2) the members of the public body recorded as either
14    present or absent and whether the members were physically
15    present or present by means of video or audio conference;
16    and
17        (3) a summary of discussion on all matters proposed,
18    deliberated, or decided, and a record of any votes taken.
19    (b) A public body shall approve the minutes of its open
20meeting within 30 days after that meeting or at the public
21body's second subsequent regular meeting, whichever is later.
22The minutes of meetings open to the public shall be available
23for public inspection within 10 days after the approval of such

 

 

SB3562- 2 -LRB101 18542 RJF 67996 b

1minutes by the public body. Beginning July 1, 2006, at the time
2it complies with the other requirements of this subsection, a
3public body that has a website that the full-time staff of the
4public body maintains shall post the minutes of a regular
5meeting of its governing body open to the public on the public
6body's website within 10 days after the approval of the minutes
7by the public body. Beginning July 1, 2006, any minutes of
8meetings open to the public posted on the public body's website
9shall remain posted on the website for at least 60 days after
10their initial posting.
11    (c) The verbatim record may be destroyed without
12notification to or the approval of a records commission or the
13State Archivist under the Local Records Act or the State
14Records Act no less than 18 months after the completion of the
15meeting recorded but only after:
16        (1) the public body approves the destruction of a
17    particular recording; and
18        (2) the public body approves minutes of the closed
19    meeting that meet the written minutes requirements of
20    subsection (a) of this Section.
21    (d) Each public body shall periodically, but no less than
22semi-annually, meet to review minutes of all closed meetings.
23Meetings to review minutes shall occur every 6 months, or as
24soon thereafter as is practicable, taking into account the
25nature and meeting schedule of the public body. Committees
26which are ad hoc in nature shall review closed session minutes

 

 

SB3562- 3 -LRB101 18542 RJF 67996 b

1at the later of (1) 6 months from the date of the last review of
2closed session minutes or (2) at the next scheduled meeting of
3the ad hoc committee. At such meetings a determination shall be
4made, and reported in an open session that (1) the need for
5confidentiality still exists as to all or part of those minutes
6or (2) that the minutes or portions thereof no longer require
7confidential treatment and are available for public
8inspection. The failure of a public body to strictly comply
9with the semi-annual review of closed session written minutes,
10whether before or after the effective date of this amendatory
11Act of the 94th General Assembly, shall not cause the written
12minutes or related verbatim record to become public or
13available for inspection in any judicial proceeding, other than
14a proceeding involving an alleged violation of this Act, if the
15public body, within 60 days of discovering its failure to
16strictly comply with the technical requirements of this
17subsection, reviews the closed session minutes and determines
18and thereafter reports in open session that either (1) the need
19for confidentiality still exists as to all or part of the
20minutes or verbatim record, or (2) that the minutes or
21recordings or portions thereof no longer require confidential
22treatment and are available for public inspection.
23    (e) Unless the public body has made a determination that
24the verbatim recording no longer requires confidential
25treatment or otherwise consents to disclosure, the verbatim
26record of a meeting closed to the public shall not be open for

 

 

SB3562- 4 -LRB101 18542 RJF 67996 b

1public inspection or subject to discovery in any administrative
2or judicial proceeding other than one brought to enforce this
3Act. In the case of a civil action brought to enforce this Act,
4the court, if the judge believes such an examination is
5necessary, must conduct such in camera examination of the
6verbatim record as it finds appropriate in order to determine
7whether there has been a violation of this Act. In the case of
8a criminal proceeding, the court may conduct an examination in
9order to determine what portions, if any, must be made
10available to the parties for use as evidence in the
11prosecution. Any such initial inspection must be held in
12camera. If the court determines that a complaint or suit
13brought for noncompliance under this Act is valid it may, for
14the purposes of discovery, redact from the minutes of the
15meeting closed to the public any information deemed to qualify
16under the attorney-client privilege. The provisions of this
17subsection do not supersede the privacy or confidentiality
18provisions of State or federal law. Access to verbatim
19recordings shall be provided to duly elected officials or
20appointed officials filling a vacancy of an elected office in a
21public body, and access shall be granted in the public body's
22main office or official storage location, in the presence of a
23records secretary, an administrative official of the public
24body, or any elected official of the public body. No verbatim
25recordings shall be recorded or removed from the public body's
26main office or official storage location, except by vote of the

 

 

SB3562- 5 -LRB101 18542 RJF 67996 b

1public body or by court order. Nothing in this subsection (e)
2is intended to limit the Public Access Counselor's access to
3those records necessary to address a request for administrative
4review under Section 7.5 of this Act.
5    (f) Minutes of meetings closed to the public shall be
6available only after the public body determines that it is no
7longer necessary to protect the public interest or the privacy
8of an individual by keeping them confidential, except that duly
9elected officials or appointed officials filling a vacancy of
10an elected office in a public body shall be provided access to
11minutes of meetings closed to the public. Access to minutes
12shall be granted in the public body's main office or official
13storage location, in the presence of a records secretary, an
14administrative official of the public body, or any elected
15official of the public body. No minutes of meetings closed to
16the public shall be removed from the public body's main office
17or official storage location, except by vote of the public body
18or by court order. Nothing in this subsection (f) is intended
19to limit the Public Access Counselor's access to those records
20necessary to address a request for administrative review under
21Section 7.5 of this Act.
22    (g) Any person shall be permitted an opportunity to address
23public officials under the rules established and recorded by
24the public body.
25    (h) When a public body is dissolved, disbanded, eliminated,
26or consolidated by executive action, legislative action, or

 

 

SB3562- 6 -LRB101 18542 RJF 67996 b

1referendum, the governing body of the unit of local government
2in which the public body was located shall review the closed
3session minutes of that public body.
4(Source: P.A. 99-515, eff. 6-30-16.)