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| [ Introduced ] | [ House Amendment 001 ] |
92_HB2233eng HB2233 Engrossed LRB9205925JMmb 1 AN ACT in relation to public records. 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 Sections 9 and 11 and adding Section 10.5 as 6 follows: 7 (5 ILCS 140/9) (from Ch. 116, par. 209) 8 Sec. 9. (a) Each public body or head of a public body 9 denying a request for public records shall notify by letter 10 the person making the request of the decision to deny such, 11 the reasons for the denial, and the names and titles or 12 positions of each person responsible for the denial. Each 13 notice of denial by a public body shall also inform such 14 person of his right to appeal to the head of the public body. 15 Each notice of denial of an appeal by the head of a public 16 body shall inform such person of his right to judicial 17 review under Section 11 and, if applicable, the person's 18 right to file a request for review with the Office of the 19 Public Records Access Counsel under Section 10.5of this20Act. 21 (b) When a request for public records is denied on the 22 grounds that the records are exempt under Section 7 of this 23 Act, the notice of denial shall specify the exemption claimed 24 to authorize the denial. Copies of all notices of denial 25 shall be retained by each public body in a single central 26 office file that is open to the public and indexed according 27 to the type of exemption asserted and, to the extent 28 feasible, according to the types of records requested. 29 (Source: P.A. 83-1013.) 30 (5 ILCS 140/10.5 new) HB2233 Engrossed -2- LRB9205925JMmb 1 Sec. 10.5. Public Records Access Counsel; advisory 2 opinions. 3 (a) A person whose request to inspect or copy a public 4 record is denied by the head of a public body may file a 5 request for review with the Office of the Public Records 6 Access Counsel established in the Office of the Attorney 7 General. The request for review must be in writing, signed 8 by the requestor, and include (i) a copy of the request for 9 access to records, (ii) the appeal, and (iii) any responses 10 from the public body. 11 (b) The Counsel shall forward a copy of a proper request 12 for review to the public body within 3 business days after 13 receipt. The public body shall provide access to records and 14 otherwise fully cooperate with the Counsel to the extent 15 necessary for the Counsel to issue a timely opinion as to the 16 propriety of the denial. 17 (c) Unless the Counsel extends the time on written 18 notice to the requestor and public body and includes a 19 statement of the reasons for the extension in the notice, the 20 Counsel shall issue to the requestor and the public body an 21 advisory opinion in response to the request for review within 22 30 days after its receipt. 23 (d) If the requestor files suit under Section 11 with 24 respect to the same denial that is the subject of a pending 25 request for review, the requestor shall notify the Counsel, 26 and the Counsel shall take no further action with respect to 27 the request for review. 28 (e) Records that are the subject of a request for review 29 and obtained by the Counsel from a public body for purposes 30 of issuing an opinion under this Section may not be disclosed 31 to the public by the Counsel. 32 (f) This Section does not apply to any of the following 33 or to any officer, member, or employee of any of the 34 following: the General Assembly, either house of the General HB2233 Engrossed -3- LRB9205925JMmb 1 Assembly, any committee or subcommittee of the General 2 Assembly or of either of its houses, or any Legislative 3 Support Services Agency. 4 (5 ILCS 140/11) (from Ch. 116, par. 211) 5 Sec. 11. (a) Any person denied access to inspect or 6 copy any public record by the head of a public body may file 7 suit for injunctive or declaratory relief regardless of 8 whether the person has filed a request for review under 9 Section 10.5. 10 (b) Where the denial is from the head of a public body 11 of the State, suit may be filed in the circuit court for the 12 county where the public body has its principal office or 13 where the person denied access resides. 14 (c) Where the denial is from the head of a municipality 15 or other public body, except as provided in subsection (b) of 16 this Section, suit may be filed in the circuit court for the 17 county where the public body is located. 18 (d) The circuit court shall have the jurisdiction to 19 enjoin the public body from withholding public records and to 20 order the production of any public records improperly 21 withheld from the person seeking access. If the public body 22 can show that exceptional circumstances exist, and that the 23 body is exercising due diligence in responding to the 24 request, the court may retain jurisdiction and allow the 25 agency additional time to complete its review of the records. 26 (e) On motion of the plaintiff, prior to or after in 27 camera inspection, the court shall order the public body to 28 provide an index of the records to which access has been 29 denied. The index shall include the following: 30 (i) A description of the nature or contents of each 31 document withheld, or each deletion from a released document, 32 provided, however, that the public body shall not be required 33 to disclose the information which it asserts is exempt; and HB2233 Engrossed -4- LRB9205925JMmb 1 (ii) A statement of the exemption or exemptions claimed 2 for each such deletion or withheld document. 3 (f) In any action considered by the court, the court 4 shall consider the matter de novo, and shall conduct such in 5 camera examination of the requested records as it finds 6 appropriate to determine if such records or any part thereof 7 may be withheld under any provision of this Act. The burden 8 shall be on the public body to establish that its refusal to 9 permit public inspection or copying is in accordance with the 10 provisions of this Act. 11 (g) In the event of noncompliance with an order of the 12 court to disclose, the court may enforce its order against 13 any public official or employee so ordered or primarily 14 responsible for such noncompliance through the court's 15 contempt powers. 16 (h) Except as to causes the court considers to be of 17 greater importance, proceedings arising under this Section 18 shall take precedence on the docket over all other causes and 19 be assigned for hearing and trial at the earliest practicable 20 date and expedited in every way. 21 (i) If a person seeking the right to inspect or receive 22 a copy of a public record substantially prevails in a 23 proceeding under this Section, the court shallmayaward such 24 person reasonable attorneys' fees, costs, and other 25 reasonable expenses of litigationif the court finds that the26record or records in question were of clearly significant27interest to the general public and that the public body28lacked any reasonable basis in law for withholding the29record. 30 (Source: P.A. 85-1357.) 31 Section 10. The Attorney General Act is amended by 32 adding Section 7 as follows: HB2233 Engrossed -5- LRB9205925JMmb 1 (15 ILCS 205/7 new) 2 Sec. 7. Public records access. 3 (a) The General Assembly finds that members of the 4 public have encountered obstacles in obtaining copies of 5 public records from units of local government, that many of 6 those obstacles result from difficulties that both members of 7 the public and public bodies have had in interpreting and 8 applying the Freedom of Information Act, and that the 9 public's significant interest in access to public records 10 would be better served if there were a central office 11 available to provide advice and education with respect to the 12 interpretation and implementation of the Freedom of 13 Information Act. 14 (b) Therefore, there is created in the Office of the 15 Attorney General the Office of the Public Records Access 16 Counsel. The Counsel's Office shall comprise an assistant 17 attorney general designated by the Attorney General to serve 18 as the Public Records Access Counsel and such additional 19 assistant attorneys general and other staff as are deemed 20 necessary by the Attorney General. 21 (c) The Public Records Access Counsel shall, subject to 22 the supervision and direction of the Attorney General, have 23 the power: 24 (1) to establish and administer a program to train 25 public officials and educate the public on the rights of 26 the public and the responsibilities of public bodies 27 under the Freedom of Information Act; 28 (2) to prepare and distribute interpretive or 29 educational materials and programs; 30 (3) to issue advisory opinions with respect to the 31 Freedom of Information Act upon the request of a public 32 body or, as provided in Section 10.5 of that Act, in 33 response to a request for review of a denial of access to 34 records under the Act, provided, however, that the HB2233 Engrossed -6- LRB9205925JMmb 1 Counsel may not issue an advisory opinion concerning a 2 specific matter with respect to which a lawsuit has been 3 filed under Section 11 of the Freedom of Information Act; 4 (4) to respond to informal inquiries made by the 5 public and public bodies; 6 (5) to conduct research on compliance issues; 7 (6) to make recommendations to the General Assembly 8 concerning ways to improve access to public records and 9 on other issues pertaining to public access to the 10 processes of government; and 11 (7) to adopt rules necessary to implement these 12 powers. 13 (d) The Counsel shall post his or her opinions on the 14 official World Wide Web site of the Office of the Attorney 15 General, with links to those opinions from the official home 16 page, and shall make them available for inspection in his or 17 her office. 18 (e) This Section does not apply to any of the following 19 or to any officer, member, or employee of any of the 20 following: the General Assembly, either house of the General 21 Assembly, any committee or subcommittee of the General 22 Assembly or of either of its houses, or any Legislative 23 Support Services Agency.