97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB1277

 

Introduced 02/08/11, by Rep. Robert Rita

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
5 ILCS 120/2  from Ch. 102, par. 42

    Amends the Open Meetings Act. Authorizes the closure of meetings between internal or external auditors and governmental audit committees, finance committees, and their equivalents, when the discussion involves internal control weaknesses, identification of potential fraud risk areas, known or suspected frauds, and fraud interviews conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards of the United States of America.


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A BILL FOR

 

HB1277LRB097 08384 JDS 48511 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 as follows:
 
6    (5 ILCS 120/2)  (from Ch. 102, par. 42)
7    Sec. 2. Open meetings.
8    (a) Openness required. All meetings of public bodies shall
9be open to the public unless excepted in subsection (c) and
10closed in accordance with Section 2a.
11    (b) Construction of exceptions. The exceptions contained
12in subsection (c) are in derogation of the requirement that
13public bodies meet in the open, and therefore, the exceptions
14are to be strictly construed, extending only to subjects
15clearly within their scope. The exceptions authorize but do not
16require the holding of a closed meeting to discuss a subject
17included within an enumerated exception.
18    (c) Exceptions. A public body may hold closed meetings to
19consider the following subjects:
20        (1) The appointment, employment, compensation,
21    discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific
22    employees of the public body or legal counsel for the
23    public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint

 

 

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1    lodged against an employee of the public body or against
2    legal counsel for the public body to determine its
3    validity.
4        (2) Collective negotiating matters between the public
5    body and its employees or their representatives, or
6    deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more
7    classes of employees.
8        (3) The selection of a person to fill a public office,
9    as defined in this Act, including a vacancy in a public
10    office, when the public body is given power to appoint
11    under law or ordinance, or the discipline, performance or
12    removal of the occupant of a public office, when the public
13    body is given power to remove the occupant under law or
14    ordinance.
15        (4) Evidence or testimony presented in open hearing, or
16    in closed hearing where specifically authorized by law, to
17    a quasi-adjudicative body, as defined in this Act, provided
18    that the body prepares and makes available for public
19    inspection a written decision setting forth its
20    determinative reasoning.
21        (5) The purchase or lease of real property for the use
22    of the public body, including meetings held for the purpose
23    of discussing whether a particular parcel should be
24    acquired.
25        (6) The setting of a price for sale or lease of
26    property owned by the public body.

 

 

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1        (7) The sale or purchase of securities, investments, or
2    investment contracts.
3        (8) Security procedures and the use of personnel and
4    equipment to respond to an actual, a threatened, or a
5    reasonably potential danger to the safety of employees,
6    students, staff, the public, or public property.
7        (9) Student disciplinary cases.
8        (10) The placement of individual students in special
9    education programs and other matters relating to
10    individual students.
11        (11) Litigation, when an action against, affecting or
12    on behalf of the particular public body has been filed and
13    is pending before a court or administrative tribunal, or
14    when the public body finds that an action is probable or
15    imminent, in which case the basis for the finding shall be
16    recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed
17    meeting.
18        (12) The establishment of reserves or settlement of
19    claims as provided in the Local Governmental and
20    Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, if otherwise the
21    disposition of a claim or potential claim might be
22    prejudiced, or the review or discussion of claims, loss or
23    risk management information, records, data, advice or
24    communications from or with respect to any insurer of the
25    public body or any intergovernmental risk management
26    association or self insurance pool of which the public body

 

 

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1    is a member.
2        (13) Conciliation of complaints of discrimination in
3    the sale or rental of housing, when closed meetings are
4    authorized by the law or ordinance prescribing fair housing
5    practices and creating a commission or administrative
6    agency for their enforcement.
7        (14) Informant sources, the hiring or assignment of
8    undercover personnel or equipment, or ongoing, prior or
9    future criminal investigations, when discussed by a public
10    body with criminal investigatory responsibilities.
11        (15) Professional ethics or performance when
12    considered by an advisory body appointed to advise a
13    licensing or regulatory agency on matters germane to the
14    advisory body's field of competence.
15        (16) Self evaluation, practices and procedures or
16    professional ethics, when meeting with a representative of
17    a statewide association of which the public body is a
18    member.
19        (17) The recruitment, credentialing, discipline or
20    formal peer review of physicians or other health care
21    professionals for a hospital, or other institution
22    providing medical care, that is operated by the public
23    body.
24        (18) Deliberations for decisions of the Prisoner
25    Review Board.
26        (19) Review or discussion of applications received

 

 

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1    under the Experimental Organ Transplantation Procedures
2    Act.
3        (20) The classification and discussion of matters
4    classified as confidential or continued confidential by
5    the State Government Suggestion Award Board.
6        (21) Discussion of minutes of meetings lawfully closed
7    under this Act, whether for purposes of approval by the
8    body of the minutes or semi-annual review of the minutes as
9    mandated by Section 2.06.
10        (22) Deliberations for decisions of the State
11    Emergency Medical Services Disciplinary Review Board.
12        (23) The operation by a municipality of a municipal
13    utility or the operation of a municipal power agency or
14    municipal natural gas agency when the discussion involves
15    (i) contracts relating to the purchase, sale, or delivery
16    of electricity or natural gas or (ii) the results or
17    conclusions of load forecast studies.
18        (24) Meetings of a residential health care facility
19    resident sexual assault and death review team or the
20    Executive Council under the Abuse Prevention Review Team
21    Act.
22        (25) Meetings of an independent team of experts under
23    Brian's Law.
24        (26) (25) Meetings of a mortality review team appointed
25    under the Department of Juvenile Justice Mortality Review
26    Team Act.

 

 

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1        (27) (25) Confidential information, when discussed by
2    one or more members of an elder abuse fatality review team,
3    designated under Section 15 of the Elder Abuse and Neglect
4    Act, while participating in a review conducted by that team
5    of the death of an elderly person in which abuse or neglect
6    is suspected, alleged, or substantiated; provided that
7    before the review team holds a closed meeting, or closes an
8    open meeting, to discuss the confidential information,
9    each participating review team member seeking to disclose
10    the confidential information in the closed meeting or
11    closed portion of the meeting must state on the record
12    during an open meeting or the open portion of a meeting the
13    nature of the information to be disclosed and the legal
14    basis for otherwise holding that information confidential.
15        (28) Meetings between internal or external auditors
16    and governmental audit committees, finance committees, and
17    their equivalents, when the discussion involves internal
18    control weaknesses, identification of potential fraud risk
19    areas, known or suspected frauds, and fraud interviews
20    conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing
21    standards of the United States of America.
22    (d) Definitions. For purposes of this Section:
23    "Employee" means a person employed by a public body whose
24relationship with the public body constitutes an
25employer-employee relationship under the usual common law
26rules, and who is not an independent contractor.

 

 

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1    "Public office" means a position created by or under the
2Constitution or laws of this State, the occupant of which is
3charged with the exercise of some portion of the sovereign
4power of this State. The term "public office" shall include
5members of the public body, but it shall not include
6organizational positions filled by members thereof, whether
7established by law or by a public body itself, that exist to
8assist the body in the conduct of its business.
9    "Quasi-adjudicative body" means an administrative body
10charged by law or ordinance with the responsibility to conduct
11hearings, receive evidence or testimony and make
12determinations based thereon, but does not include local
13electoral boards when such bodies are considering petition
14challenges.
15    (e) Final action. No final action may be taken at a closed
16meeting. Final action shall be preceded by a public recital of
17the nature of the matter being considered and other information
18that will inform the public of the business being conducted.
19(Source: P.A. 95-185, eff. 1-1-08; 96-1235, eff. 1-1-11;
2096-1378, eff. 7-29-10; 96-1428, eff. 8-11-10; revised 9-2-10.)