Full Text of SB3130 96th General Assembly
SB3130 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010 SB3130
Introduced 2/8/2010, by Sen. Don Harmon SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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5 ILCS 140/3 |
from Ch. 116, par. 203 |
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Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Changes a subsection cross-reference in provisions governing a public body's request response period. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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SB3130 |
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LRB096 20300 JAM 35921 b |
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| AN ACT concerning government.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by | 5 |
| changing Section 3 as follows:
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| (5 ILCS 140/3) (from Ch. 116, par. 203)
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| Sec. 3.
(a) Each public body shall make available to any | 8 |
| person for
inspection or copying all public records, except as | 9 |
| otherwise provided in
Section 7 of this Act.
Notwithstanding | 10 |
| any other law, a public body may not grant to any person
or | 11 |
| entity, whether by contract, license, or otherwise, the | 12 |
| exclusive right to
access and disseminate any public record as | 13 |
| defined in this Act.
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| (b) Subject to the fee provisions of Section 6 of this Act, | 15 |
| each public
body shall promptly provide, to any person who | 16 |
| submits a request,
a copy of any public record required to be | 17 |
| disclosed
by subsection (a) of this Section and shall certify | 18 |
| such copy if so requested.
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| (c) Requests for inspection or copies shall be made in | 20 |
| writing and directed to the public body. Written requests may | 21 |
| be submitted to a public body via personal delivery, mail, | 22 |
| telefax, or other means available to the public body. A public | 23 |
| body may honor oral requests for inspection or copying. A |
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| public body may not require that a request be submitted on a | 2 |
| standard form or require the requester to specify the purpose | 3 |
| for a request, except to determine whether the records are | 4 |
| requested for a commercial purpose or whether to grant a | 5 |
| request for a fee waiver. All requests for inspection and | 6 |
| copying received by a public body shall immediately be | 7 |
| forwarded to its Freedom of Information officer or designee. | 8 |
| (d) Each public body shall, promptly, either comply with or | 9 |
| deny a
request for public records within 5 business days after | 10 |
| its receipt of the request, unless the time for response is | 11 |
| properly extended under subsection (e) of this Section. Denial
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| shall be in writing as provided in Section 9 of this Act. | 13 |
| Failure to comply with
a written request, extend the time for | 14 |
| response, or deny a request within 5 business days after its | 15 |
| receipt shall be considered a
denial of the request. A public | 16 |
| body that fails to respond to a request within the requisite | 17 |
| periods in this Section but thereafter provides the requester | 18 |
| with copies of the requested public records may not impose a | 19 |
| fee for such copies. A public body that fails to respond to a | 20 |
| request received may not treat the request as unduly burdensome | 21 |
| under subsection (g).
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| (e) The time for response under this Section may be
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| extended by the public body for not more than 5 business days | 24 |
| from the original due date for any
of the following reasons:
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| (i) the requested records are stored in whole or in | 26 |
| part at other
locations
than the office having charge of |
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| the requested records;
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| (ii) the request requires the collection of a | 3 |
| substantial number of
specified records;
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| (iii) the request is couched in categorical terms and | 5 |
| requires an
extensive
search for the records responsive to | 6 |
| it;
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| (iv) the requested records have not been located in the | 8 |
| course of routine
search and additional efforts are being | 9 |
| made to locate them;
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| (v) the requested records require examination and | 11 |
| evaluation by personnel
having the necessary competence | 12 |
| and discretion to determine if they are
exempt from | 13 |
| disclosure under Section 7 of this Act or should be | 14 |
| revealed
only with appropriate deletions;
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| (vi) the request for records cannot be complied with by | 16 |
| the public body
within the time limits prescribed by | 17 |
| paragraph (d) (c) of this Section without
unduly burdening | 18 |
| or interfering with the operations of the public body;
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| (vii) there is a need for consultation, which shall be | 20 |
| conducted with all
practicable speed, with another public | 21 |
| body or among two or more components
of a public body | 22 |
| having a substantial interest in the determination or in
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| the subject matter of the request.
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| The person making a request and the public body may agree | 25 |
| in writing to extend the time for compliance for a period to be | 26 |
| determined by the parties. If the requester and the public body |
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| agree to extend the period for compliance, a failure by the | 2 |
| public body to comply with any previous deadlines shall not be | 3 |
| treated as a denial of the request for the records. | 4 |
| (f) When additional time is required for any of the above | 5 |
| reasons, the
public body shall, within 5 business days after | 6 |
| receipt of the request, notify the person making the request of | 7 |
| the reasons
for the extension and the date by which the | 8 |
| response will be forthcoming. Failure to respond within the | 9 |
| time permitted for extension shall be considered a denial of | 10 |
| the request. A public body that fails to respond to a request | 11 |
| within the time permitted for extension but thereafter provides | 12 |
| the requester with copies of the requested public records may | 13 |
| not impose a fee for those copies. A public body that requests | 14 |
| an extension and subsequently fails to respond to the request | 15 |
| may not treat the request as unduly burdensome under subsection | 16 |
| (g).
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| (g) Requests calling for all records falling within a | 18 |
| category shall be
complied with unless compliance with the | 19 |
| request would be unduly burdensome
for the complying public | 20 |
| body and there is no way to narrow the request and the
burden | 21 |
| on the public body outweighs the public interest in the | 22 |
| information.
Before invoking this exemption, the public body | 23 |
| shall extend to the person
making the request an opportunity to | 24 |
| confer with it in an attempt to reduce
the request to | 25 |
| manageable proportions. If any body responds to a categorical
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| request by stating that compliance would unduly burden its |
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| operation and
the conditions described above are met, it shall | 2 |
| do so in writing, specifying
the reasons why it would be unduly | 3 |
| burdensome and the extent to which compliance
will so burden | 4 |
| the operations of the public body. Such a response shall
be | 5 |
| treated as a denial of the
request for information. | 6 |
| Repeated requests from the same person for the same records | 7 |
| that are unchanged or identical to records previously provided | 8 |
| or properly denied under this Act shall be deemed unduly | 9 |
| burdensome under this provision.
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| (h) Each public body may promulgate rules and regulations | 11 |
| in conformity
with the provisions of this Section pertaining to | 12 |
| the availability of records
and procedures to be followed, | 13 |
| including:
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| (i) the times and places where such records will be | 15 |
| made available, and
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| (ii) the persons from whom such records may be | 17 |
| obtained.
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| (i) The time periods for compliance or denial of a request | 19 |
| to inspect or copy records set out in this Section shall not | 20 |
| apply to requests for records made for a commercial purpose. | 21 |
| Such requests shall be subject to the provisions of Section 3.1 | 22 |
| of this Act. | 23 |
| (Source: P.A. 96-542, eff. 1-1-10.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 25 |
| becoming law.
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