Full Text of HB4532 98th General Assembly
HB4532 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014 HB4532 Introduced , by Rep. Joe Sosnowski SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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5 ILCS 140/6 | from Ch. 116, par. 206 |
35 ILCS 200/9-20 |
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Amends the Property Tax Code. Authorizes the custodian of property record cards to levy a reasonable fee against any person who requests an electronic or microfiche copy of those cards for commercial purposes. Amends the Freedom of Information Act to make conforming changes. Effective immediately.
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| | | FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY | |
| | 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 Freedom of Information Act is amended by | 5 | | changing Section 6 as follows:
| 6 | | (5 ILCS 140/6) (from Ch. 116, par. 206)
| 7 | | Sec. 6. Authority to charge fees.
| 8 | | (a) When a person requests a copy of a record maintained in | 9 | | an electronic format, the public body shall furnish it in the | 10 | | electronic format specified by the requester, if feasible. If | 11 | | it is not feasible to furnish the public records in the | 12 | | specified electronic format, then the public body shall furnish | 13 | | it in the format in which it is maintained by the public body, | 14 | | or in paper format at the option of the requester. A public | 15 | | body may charge the requester for the actual cost of purchasing | 16 | | the recording medium, whether disc, diskette, tape, or other | 17 | | medium. A public body may not charge the requester for the | 18 | | costs of any search for and review of the records or other | 19 | | personnel costs associated with reproducing the records, | 20 | | except for commercial requests as provided in subsection (f) of | 21 | | this Section. Except to the extent that the General Assembly | 22 | | expressly authorizes or provides, statutory fees applicable to | 23 | | copies of public records when furnished in a paper format shall |
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| 1 | | not be applicable to those records when furnished in an | 2 | | electronic format. | 3 | | (b) Except when a fee is otherwise fixed by statute, each | 4 | | public body may charge fees
reasonably
calculated to
reimburse
| 5 | | its actual cost for reproducing and certifying public records | 6 | | and for the
use, by any person, of the equipment of the public | 7 | | body to copy records. No fees shall be charged for the first 50 | 8 | | pages of black and white, letter or legal sized copies | 9 | | requested by a requester. The fee for black and white, letter | 10 | | or legal sized copies shall not exceed 15 cents per page. If a | 11 | | public body provides copies in color or in a size other than | 12 | | letter or legal, the public body may not charge more than its | 13 | | actual cost for reproducing the records.
In calculating its | 14 | | actual cost for reproducing records or for the use of the | 15 | | equipment of the public body to reproduce records, a public | 16 | | body shall not include the costs of any search for and review | 17 | | of the records or other personnel costs associated with | 18 | | reproducing the records, except for commercial requests as | 19 | | provided in subsection (f) of this Section. Such fees shall be | 20 | | imposed
according to a standard scale of fees, established and | 21 | | made public by the
body imposing them. The cost for certifying | 22 | | a record shall not exceed $1.
| 23 | | (c) Documents shall be furnished without charge or at a | 24 | | reduced
charge, as determined by the public body, if the person | 25 | | requesting the
documents states the specific purpose for the | 26 | | request and indicates that a
waiver or reduction of the fee is |
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| 1 | | in the public interest. Waiver or
reduction of the fee is in | 2 | | the public interest if the principal purpose of
the request is | 3 | | to access and disseminate information regarding the health,
| 4 | | safety and welfare or the legal rights of the general public | 5 | | and is not for
the principal purpose of personal or commercial | 6 | | benefit.
For purposes of this subsection, "commercial benefit" | 7 | | shall not apply to
requests
made by news media when the | 8 | | principal purpose of the request is to access and
disseminate | 9 | | information regarding the health, safety, and welfare or the | 10 | | legal
rights of the general public.
In setting the
amount of | 11 | | the waiver or reduction, the public body may take into
| 12 | | consideration the amount of materials requested and the cost of | 13 | | copying
them.
| 14 | | (d) The imposition of a fee not consistent with subsections
| 15 | | (6)(a) and (b) of this Act constitutes a denial of access to | 16 | | public
records for the purposes of judicial review.
| 17 | | (e) The fee for each abstract of a driver's record shall be | 18 | | as provided
in Section 6-118 of "The Illinois Vehicle Code", | 19 | | approved September 29,
1969, as amended, whether furnished as a | 20 | | paper copy or as an electronic copy.
| 21 | | (f) A public body may charge up to $10 for each hour spent | 22 | | by personnel in searching for and retrieving a requested | 23 | | record. No fees shall be charged for the first 8 hours spent by | 24 | | personnel in searching for or retrieving a requested record. A | 25 | | public body may charge the actual cost of retrieving and | 26 | | transporting public records from an off-site storage facility |
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| 1 | | when the public records are maintained by a third-party storage | 2 | | company under contract with the public body. If a public body | 3 | | imposes a fee pursuant to this subsection (f), it must provide | 4 | | the requester with an accounting of all fees, costs, and | 5 | | personnel hours in connection with the request for public | 6 | | records. The provisions of this subsection (f) apply only to | 7 | | commercial requests. | 8 | | (Source: P.A. 96-542, eff. 1-1-10; 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10; | 9 | | 97-579, eff. 8-26-11.)
| 10 | | Section 10. The Property Tax Code is amended by changing | 11 | | Section 9-20 as follows:
| 12 | | (35 ILCS 200/9-20)
| 13 | | Sec. 9-20. Property record cards. In all counties, all | 14 | | property record
cards maintained by a township assessor, | 15 | | multi-township assessor, or chief
county assessment officer | 16 | | shall be public records, and shall be available for
public | 17 | | inspection during business hours, subject to reasonable rules | 18 | | and
regulations of the custodian of the records. Upon request | 19 | | and payment of such
reasonable fee established by the | 20 | | custodian, a paper copy or printout of property record cards | 21 | | shall be
provided to any person.
| 22 | | Property record cards may be established and maintained on | 23 | | electronic
equipment or microfiche, and that system may be the | 24 | | exclusive record of
property information. Upon request and |
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| 1 | | payment of such
reasonable fee established by the custodian, an | 2 | | electronic or microfiche copy of property record cards shall be | 3 | | provided to any person who requests that copy for a commercial | 4 | | purpose, as defined under subsection (c-10) of Section 2 of the | 5 | | Freedom of Information Act. However, if a person requests an | 6 | | electronic or microfiche copy of property record cards for a | 7 | | purpose other than a commercial purpose, then the custodian may | 8 | | charge a fee only for the actual cost of purchasing the | 9 | | recording medium, whether disc, diskette, tape, microfiche, or | 10 | | other medium.
| 11 | | (Source: P.A. 83-1312; 88-455.)
| 12 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 13 | | becoming law.
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