Full Text of HB0956 93rd General Assembly
HB0956enr 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning freedom of information.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 |
| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by | 5 |
| changing Sections 9, 10, and 11 as follows:
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| (5 ILCS 140/9) (from Ch. 116, par. 209)
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| Sec. 9. (a) Each public body or head of a public body | 8 |
| denying a request
for public records shall notify by letter the | 9 |
| person making the request
of the decision to deny such, the | 10 |
| reasons for the denial, and the names
and titles or positions
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| of each person responsible for the denial. Each notice of | 12 |
| denial by a public
body shall also inform such person of his | 13 |
| right to appeal to the head of
the public body. Each notice of | 14 |
| denial of an appeal by the head of a public
body shall inform | 15 |
| such person of his right to judicial review under
Section 11 of | 16 |
| this Act.
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| (b) When a request for public records is denied on the | 18 |
| grounds that the
records are exempt under Section 7 of this | 19 |
| Act, the notice of denial shall
specify the exemption claimed | 20 |
| to authorize the denial.
Copies of
all notices of denial shall | 21 |
| be retained by each public body in a single
central office file | 22 |
| that is open to the public and indexed according to
the type of | 23 |
| exemption asserted and, to the extent feasible, according to
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| the types of records requested.
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| (Source: P.A. 83-1013.)
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| (5 ILCS 140/10) (from Ch. 116, par. 210)
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| Sec. 10. (a) Any person denied access to inspect or copy | 28 |
| any public
record may appeal the denial by sending a written | 29 |
| notice of appeal to the
head of the public body. Upon receipt | 30 |
| of such notice the head of the public
body shall promptly | 31 |
| review the public record, determine whether under the
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| provisions of this Act such record is open to inspection and | 2 |
| copying, and
notify the person making the appeal of such | 3 |
| determination within 7 working
days after the notice of appeal. | 4 |
| Each notice of denial of an appeal by the head of a public body | 5 |
| shall inform the person of his or her right to judicial review | 6 |
| within 60 days after the denial under Section 11.
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| (b) Any person making a request for public records shall be | 8 |
| deemed to
have exhausted his administrative remedies with | 9 |
| respect to such request
if the head of the public body affirms | 10 |
| the denial or fails to act within
the time limit provided in | 11 |
| subsection (a) of this Section.
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| (Source: P.A. 83-1013.)
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| (5 ILCS 140/11) (from Ch. 116, par. 211)
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| Sec. 11. (a) Any person denied access to inspect or copy | 15 |
| any public
record by the head of a public body
may file suit | 16 |
| for injunctive or
declaratory relief. If the head of a public | 17 |
| body has issued a written denial of appeal as provided in | 18 |
| subsection (a) of Section 10, any suit for injunctive or | 19 |
| declaratory relief must be filed within 60 days after the | 20 |
| receipt of the denial of the appeal. For any written denial of | 21 |
| appeal issued before the effective date of this amendatory Act | 22 |
| of the 93rd General Assembly, suit for injunctive or | 23 |
| declaratory relief must be filed within 60 days after the | 24 |
| effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General | 25 |
| Assembly.
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| (b) Where the denial is from the head of a public body of | 27 |
| the State, suit
may be filed in the circuit court for the | 28 |
| county where the public body has
its principal office or where | 29 |
| the person denied access resides.
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| (c) Where the denial is from the head of a municipality or | 31 |
| other public
body, except as provided in subsection (b) of this | 32 |
| Section, suit may be filed
in the circuit court for the county | 33 |
| where the public body is located.
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| (d) The circuit court shall have the jurisdiction to enjoin | 35 |
| the public
body from withholding public records and to order |
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| the production of any
public records improperly withheld from | 2 |
| the person seeking access. If the
public body can show that | 3 |
| exceptional circumstances exist, and that the
body is | 4 |
| exercising due diligence in responding to the request, the | 5 |
| court
may retain jurisdiction and allow the agency additional | 6 |
| time to complete
its review of the records.
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| (e) On motion of the plaintiff, prior to or after in camera
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| inspection, the court shall order the public body
to provide an | 9 |
| index of the records to which access has been denied. The
index | 10 |
| shall include the following:
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| (i) A description of the nature or contents of each | 12 |
| document
withheld, or each deletion from a released | 13 |
| document, provided, however,
that the public body shall not | 14 |
| be required to disclose the information
which it asserts is | 15 |
| exempt; and
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| (ii) A statement of the exemption or exemptions claimed | 17 |
| for each such
deletion or withheld document.
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| (f) In any action considered by the court, the court shall | 19 |
| consider the
matter de novo, and shall conduct such in camera | 20 |
| examination of the requested
records as it finds appropriate to | 21 |
| determine if such records or any part
thereof may be withheld | 22 |
| under any provision of this Act. The burden shall
be on the | 23 |
| public body to establish that its refusal to permit public | 24 |
| inspection
or copying is in accordance with the provisions of | 25 |
| this Act.
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| (g) In the event of noncompliance with an order of the | 27 |
| court to disclose,
the court may enforce its order against any | 28 |
| public official or employee
so ordered or primarily responsible | 29 |
| for such noncompliance through the court's
contempt powers.
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| (h) Except as to causes the court considers to be of | 31 |
| greater importance,
proceedings arising under this Section | 32 |
| shall take precedence on the docket
over all other causes and | 33 |
| be assigned for hearing and trial at the earliest
practicable | 34 |
| date and expedited in every way.
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| (i) If a person seeking the right to inspect or receive a | 36 |
| copy of a public
record substantially prevails in a
proceeding |
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| under this Section, the court may award such
person reasonable | 2 |
| attorneys' fees and costs. If, however, the court finds
that | 3 |
| the fundamental purpose of the request
was to further the | 4 |
| commercial interests of the requestor, the court may award
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| reasonable attorneys' fees and costs if the court finds that | 6 |
| the
record or records in question were of clearly significant | 7 |
| interest to the
general public and that the public body lacked | 8 |
| any reasonable
basis in law for withholding the record.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-466, eff. 1-1-04.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 11 |
| becoming law. |
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