(25 ILCS 170/7) (from Ch. 63, par. 177)
    Sec. 7. Duties of the Secretary of State.
    (a) It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to provide appropriate forms for the registration and reporting of information required by this Act and to keep such registrations and reports on file in his office for 3 years from the date of filing. He shall also provide and maintain a register with appropriate blanks and indexes so that the information required in Sections 5 and 6 of this Act may be accordingly entered. Such records shall be considered public information and open to public inspection.
    (b) Within 5 business days after a filing deadline, the Secretary of State shall notify persons he determines are required to file but have failed to do so.
    (c) The Secretary of State shall provide adequate software to the persons required to file under this Act, and all registrations, reports, statements, and amendments required to be filed shall be filed electronically. The Secretary of State shall promptly make all filed reports publicly available by means of a searchable database that is accessible through the World Wide Web. The Secretary of State shall provide all software necessary to comply with this provision to all persons required to file. The Secretary of State shall implement a plan to provide computer access and assistance to persons required to file electronically.
    (d) The Secretary of State shall include registrants' pictures when publishing or posting on his or her website the information required in Section 5.
    (d-5) Within 90 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly, the Secretary of State shall create a publicly accessible and searchable database bringing together disclosures by registered lobbyists under this Act, contributions by registered lobbyists required to be disclosed under the Election Code, and statements of economic interests required to be filed by State officials and employees under the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act.
    (e) The Secretary of State shall receive and investigate allegations of violations of this Act. Any employee of the Secretary of State who receives an allegation shall immediately transmit it to the Secretary of State Inspector General.
(Source: P.A. 101-595, eff. 12-5-19.)