Full Text of HB0248 99th General Assembly
HB0248sam001 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Sen. Kyle McCarter Filed: 5/8/2015
| | 09900HB0248sam001 | | LRB099 04859 JLK 35277 a |
|
| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 248
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 248 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 5. The Open Meetings Act is amended by changing | 5 | | Section 3 as follows:
| 6 | | (5 ILCS 120/3) (from Ch. 102, par. 43)
| 7 | | Sec. 3.
(a) Where the provisions of this Act are not | 8 | | complied with, or
where there is probable cause to believe that | 9 | | the provisions of this Act
will not be complied with, any | 10 | | person, including the State's Attorney
of the county in which | 11 | | such noncompliance
may occur, may bring a civil action in the | 12 | | circuit court for the judicial
circuit in which the alleged | 13 | | noncompliance has occurred or is about to occur,
or in which | 14 | | the affected public body has its principal office, prior to
or | 15 | | within 60 days of the meeting alleged to be in
violation of | 16 | | this Act or, if facts concerning the meeting are not discovered
|
| | | 09900HB0248sam001 | - 2 - | LRB099 04859 JLK 35277 a |
|
| 1 | | within the 60-day period,
within 60 days of the discovery of a | 2 | | violation by the State's
Attorney.
| 3 | | Records that are obtained by a State's Attorney from a | 4 | | public body for purposes of reviewing whether the public body | 5 | | has complied with this Act may not be disclosed to the public. | 6 | | Those records, while in the possession of the State's Attorney, | 7 | | are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information | 8 | | Act. | 9 | | (b) In deciding such a case the court may examine in camera | 10 | | any portion
of the minutes of a meeting at which a violation of | 11 | | the Act is alleged to
have occurred, and may take such | 12 | | additional evidence as it deems necessary.
| 13 | | (c) The court, having due regard for orderly administration | 14 | | and the public
interest, as well as for the interests of the | 15 | | parties, may grant such
relief as it deems appropriate, | 16 | | including granting a relief
by mandamus requiring that a | 17 | | meeting be open
to the public, granting an injunction against | 18 | | future violations of this
Act, ordering the public body to make | 19 | | available to the public such portion
of the minutes of a | 20 | | meeting as is not
authorized to be kept confidential under this | 21 | | Act, or declaring null and
void any final action taken at a | 22 | | closed meeting in violation of this Act , or declaring null and | 23 | | void a final action taken at an open meeting held or conducted | 24 | | in violation of this Act, but only if a civil action alleging | 25 | | the violation is commenced within 60 days of that meeting and | 26 | | the alleged violation is directly and substantially related to |
| | | 09900HB0248sam001 | - 3 - | LRB099 04859 JLK 35277 a |
|
| 1 | | that final action. For purposes of this subsection, "directly | 2 | | or substantially related to that final action" means that the | 3 | | alleged violation of this Act directly affected the vote on an | 4 | | item of business; the violation was not merely indirectly, | 5 | | remotely, incidentally, or collaterally related to the vote .
| 6 | | (d) The court may assess against any party, except a | 7 | | State's Attorney,
reasonable attorney's fees and other | 8 | | litigation costs reasonably incurred
by any other party who | 9 | | substantially prevails in any action brought in
accordance with | 10 | | this Section, provided that costs may be assessed against
any | 11 | | private party or parties bringing an action pursuant to this | 12 | | Section
only upon the court's determination that the action is | 13 | | malicious or frivolous
in nature.
| 14 | | (Source: P.A. 96-542, eff. 1-1-10.)
| 15 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 16 | | becoming law.".
|
|