Full Text of HB2615 101st General Assembly
HB2615 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020 HB2615 Introduced , by Rep. Amy Grant SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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5 ILCS 120/3 | from Ch. 102, par. 43 |
5 ILCS 140/11 | from Ch. 116, par. 211 |
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Amends the Open Meetings Act and the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that "substantially prevails" and "prevails" mean: (1) the party obtains some of his or her requested relief through a judicial order in his or her favor or through any settlement agreement approved by the court; or (2) the pursuit of a nonfrivolous claim was a catalyst for a unilateral change in position by the opposing party relative to the relief sought.
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning government.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 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
| 17 | | within the 60-day period,
within 60 days of the discovery of a | 18 | | violation by the State's
Attorney or, if the person timely | 19 | | files a request for review under Section 3.5, within 60 days of | 20 | | the decision by the Attorney General to resolve a request for | 21 | | review by a means other than the issuance of a binding opinion | 22 | | under subsection (e) of Section 3.5.
| 23 | | Records that are obtained by a State's Attorney from a |
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| 1 | | public body for purposes of reviewing whether the public body | 2 | | has complied with this Act may not be disclosed to the public. | 3 | | Those records, while in the possession of the State's Attorney, | 4 | | are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information | 5 | | Act. | 6 | | (b) In deciding such a case the court may examine in camera | 7 | | any portion
of the minutes of a meeting at which a violation of | 8 | | the Act is alleged to
have occurred, and may take such | 9 | | additional evidence as it deems necessary.
| 10 | | (c) The court, having due regard for orderly administration | 11 | | and the public
interest, as well as for the interests of the | 12 | | parties, may grant such
relief as it deems appropriate, | 13 | | including granting a relief
by mandamus requiring that a | 14 | | meeting be open
to the public, granting an injunction against | 15 | | future violations of this
Act, ordering the public body to make | 16 | | available to the public such portion
of the minutes of a | 17 | | meeting as is not
authorized to be kept confidential under this | 18 | | Act, or declaring null and
void any final action taken at a | 19 | | closed meeting in violation of this Act.
| 20 | | (d) The court may assess against any party, except a | 21 | | State's Attorney,
reasonable attorney's fees and other | 22 | | litigation costs reasonably incurred
by any other party who | 23 | | substantially prevails in any action brought in
accordance with | 24 | | this Section, provided that costs may be assessed against
any | 25 | | private party or parties bringing an action pursuant to this | 26 | | Section
only upon the court's determination that the action is |
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| 1 | | malicious or frivolous
in nature. As used in this Section, | 2 | | "substantially prevails" means: (1) the party obtains some of | 3 | | his or her requested relief through a judicial order in his or | 4 | | her favor or through any settlement agreement approved by the | 5 | | court; or (2) the pursuit of a nonfrivolous claim was a | 6 | | catalyst for a unilateral change in position by the opposing | 7 | | party relative to the relief sought.
| 8 | | (Source: P.A. 99-714, eff. 8-5-16.)
| 9 | | Section 10. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by | 10 | | changing Section 11 as follows:
| 11 | | (5 ILCS 140/11) (from Ch. 116, par. 211)
| 12 | | Sec. 11.
(a) Any person denied access to inspect or copy | 13 | | any public
record by a public body
may file suit for injunctive | 14 | | or
declaratory relief.
| 15 | | (a-5) In accordance with Section 11.6 of this Act, a | 16 | | requester may file an action to enforce a binding opinion | 17 | | issued under Section 9.5 of this Act. | 18 | | (b) Where the denial is from a public body of the State, | 19 | | suit
may be filed in the circuit court for the county where the | 20 | | public body has
its principal office or where the person denied | 21 | | access resides.
| 22 | | (c) Where the denial is from a municipality or other public
| 23 | | body, except as provided in subsection (b) of this Section, | 24 | | suit may be filed
in the circuit court for the county where the |
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| 1 | | public body is located.
| 2 | | (d) The circuit court shall have the jurisdiction to enjoin | 3 | | the public
body from withholding public records and to order | 4 | | the production of any
public records improperly withheld from | 5 | | the person seeking access. If the
public body can show that | 6 | | exceptional circumstances exist, and that the
body is | 7 | | exercising due diligence in responding to the request, the | 8 | | court
may retain jurisdiction and allow the agency additional | 9 | | time to complete
its review of the records.
| 10 | | (e) On motion of the plaintiff, prior to or after in camera
| 11 | | inspection, the court shall order the public body
to provide an | 12 | | index of the records to which access has been denied. The
index | 13 | | shall include the following:
| 14 | | (i) A description of the nature or contents of each | 15 | | document
withheld, or each deletion from a released | 16 | | document, provided, however,
that the public body shall not | 17 | | be required to disclose the information
which it asserts is | 18 | | exempt; and
| 19 | | (ii) A statement of the exemption or exemptions claimed | 20 | | for each such
deletion or withheld document.
| 21 | | (f) In any action considered by the court, the court shall | 22 | | consider the
matter de novo, and shall conduct such in camera | 23 | | examination of the requested
records as it finds appropriate to | 24 | | determine if such records or any part
thereof may be withheld | 25 | | under any provision of this Act. The burden shall
be on the | 26 | | public body to establish that its refusal to permit public |
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| 1 | | inspection
or copying is in accordance with the provisions of | 2 | | this Act. Any public body that asserts that a record is exempt | 3 | | from disclosure has the burden of proving that it is exempt by | 4 | | clear and convincing evidence.
| 5 | | (g) In the event of noncompliance with an order of the | 6 | | court to disclose,
the court may enforce its order against any | 7 | | public official or employee
so ordered or primarily responsible | 8 | | for such noncompliance through the court's
contempt powers.
| 9 | | (h) Except as to causes the court considers to be of | 10 | | greater importance,
proceedings arising under this Section | 11 | | shall take precedence on the docket
over all other causes and | 12 | | be assigned for hearing and trial at the earliest
practicable | 13 | | date and expedited in every way.
| 14 | | (i) If a person seeking the right to inspect or receive a | 15 | | copy of a public
record prevails in a
proceeding under this | 16 | | Section, the court shall award such
person reasonable | 17 | | attorney's fees and costs. In determining what amount of | 18 | | attorney's fees is reasonable, the court shall consider the | 19 | | degree to which the relief obtained relates to the relief | 20 | | sought. As used in this Section, "prevails" means: (1) the | 21 | | party obtains some of his or her requested relief through a | 22 | | judicial order in his or her favor or through any settlement | 23 | | agreement approved by the court; or (2) the pursuit of a | 24 | | nonfrivolous claim was a catalyst for a unilateral change in | 25 | | position by the opposing party relative to the relief sought. | 26 | | The changes contained in this subsection apply to an action |
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| 1 | | filed on or after January 1, 2010 (the effective date of Public | 2 | | Act 96-542).
| 3 | | (j) If the court determines that a public body willfully | 4 | | and intentionally failed to comply with this Act, or otherwise | 5 | | acted in bad faith, the court shall also impose upon the public | 6 | | body a civil penalty of not less than $2,500 nor more than | 7 | | $5,000 for each occurrence. In assessing the civil penalty, the | 8 | | court shall consider in aggravation or mitigation the budget of | 9 | | the public body and whether the public body has previously been | 10 | | assessed penalties for violations of this Act. The court may | 11 | | impose an additional penalty of up to $1,000 for each day the | 12 | | violation continues if: | 13 | | (1) the public body fails to comply with the court's | 14 | | order after 30 days; | 15 | | (2) the court's order is not on appeal or stayed; and | 16 | | (3) the court does not grant the public body additional | 17 | | time to comply with the court's order to disclose public | 18 | | records. | 19 | | The changes contained in this subsection made by Public Act | 20 | | 96-542 apply to an action filed on or after January 1, 2010 | 21 | | (the effective date of Public Act 96-542). | 22 | | (k) The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act | 23 | | of the 99th General Assembly apply to actions filed on or after | 24 | | the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General | 25 | | Assembly. | 26 | | (Source: P.A. 99-586, eff. 1-1-17; 99-642, eff. 7-28-16 .)
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