Public Act 097-0452 Public Act 0452 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
Public Act 097-0452 | HB2259 Enrolled | LRB097 08113 JDS 48236 b |
|
| AN ACT concerning government.
| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | represented in the General Assembly:
| Section 5. The Open Meetings Act is amended by changing | Section 2 as follows:
| (5 ILCS 120/2) (from Ch. 102, par. 42)
| Sec. 2. Open meetings.
| (a) Openness required. All meetings of public
bodies shall | be open to the public unless excepted in subsection (c)
and | closed in accordance with Section 2a.
| (b) Construction of exceptions. The exceptions contained | in subsection
(c) are in derogation of the requirement that | public bodies
meet in the open, and therefore, the exceptions | are to be strictly
construed, extending only to subjects | clearly within their scope.
The exceptions authorize but do not | require the holding of
a closed meeting to discuss a subject | included within an enumerated exception.
| (c) Exceptions. A public body may hold closed meetings to | consider the
following subjects:
| (1) The appointment, employment, compensation, | discipline, performance,
or dismissal of specific | employees of the public body or legal counsel for
the | public body, including hearing
testimony on a complaint |
| lodged against an employee of the public body or
against | legal counsel for the public body to determine its | validity.
| (2) Collective negotiating matters between the public | body and its
employees or their representatives, or | deliberations concerning salary
schedules for one or more | classes of employees.
| (3) The selection of a person to fill a public office,
| as defined in this Act, including a vacancy in a public | office, when the public
body is given power to appoint | under law or ordinance, or the discipline,
performance or | removal of the occupant of a public office, when the public | body
is given power to remove the occupant under law or | ordinance.
| (4) Evidence or testimony presented in open hearing, or | in closed
hearing where specifically authorized by law, to
| a quasi-adjudicative body, as defined in this Act, provided | that the body
prepares and makes available for public | inspection a written decision
setting forth its | determinative reasoning.
| (5) The purchase or lease of real property for the use | of
the public body, including meetings held for the purpose | of discussing
whether a particular parcel should be | acquired.
| (6) The setting of a price for sale or lease of | property owned
by the public body.
|
| (7) The sale or purchase of securities, investments, or | investment
contracts.
| (8) Security procedures and the use of personnel and
| equipment to respond to an actual, a threatened, or a | reasonably
potential danger to the safety of employees, | students, staff, the public, or
public
property.
| (9) Student disciplinary cases.
| (10) The placement of individual students in special | education
programs and other matters relating to | individual students.
| (11) Litigation, when an action against, affecting or | on behalf of the
particular public body has been filed and | is pending before a court or
administrative tribunal, or | when the public body finds that an action is
probable or | imminent, in which case the basis for the finding shall be
| recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed | meeting.
| (12) The establishment of reserves or settlement of | claims as provided
in the Local Governmental and | Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, if
otherwise the | disposition of a claim or potential claim might be
| prejudiced, or the review or discussion of claims, loss or | risk management
information, records, data, advice or | communications from or with respect
to any insurer of the | public body or any intergovernmental risk management
| association or self insurance pool of which the public body |
| is a member.
| (13) Conciliation of complaints of discrimination in | the sale or rental
of housing, when closed meetings are | authorized by the law or ordinance
prescribing fair housing | practices and creating a commission or
administrative | agency for their enforcement.
| (14) Informant sources, the hiring or assignment of | undercover personnel
or equipment, or ongoing, prior or | future criminal investigations, when
discussed by a public | body with criminal investigatory responsibilities.
| (15) Professional ethics or performance when | considered by an advisory
body appointed to advise a | licensing or regulatory agency on matters
germane to the | advisory body's field of competence.
| (16) Self evaluation, practices and procedures or | professional ethics,
when meeting with a representative of | a statewide association of which the
public body is a | member.
| (17) The recruitment, credentialing, discipline or | formal peer review
of physicians or other
health care | professionals for a hospital, or
other institution | providing medical care, that is operated by the public | body.
| (18) Deliberations for decisions of the Prisoner | Review Board.
| (19) Review or discussion of applications received |
| under the
Experimental Organ Transplantation Procedures | Act.
| (20) The classification and discussion of matters | classified as
confidential or continued confidential by | the State Government Suggestion Award
Board.
| (21) Discussion of minutes of meetings lawfully closed | under this Act,
whether for purposes of approval by the | body of the minutes or semi-annual
review of the minutes as | mandated by Section 2.06.
| (22) Deliberations for decisions of the State
| Emergency Medical Services Disciplinary
Review Board.
| (23) The operation by a municipality of a municipal | utility or the
operation of a
municipal power agency or | municipal natural gas agency when the
discussion involves | (i) contracts relating to the
purchase, sale, or delivery | of electricity or natural gas or (ii) the results
or | conclusions of load forecast studies.
| (24) Meetings of a residential health care facility | resident sexual
assault and death review
team or
the | Executive
Council under the Abuse Prevention Review
Team | Act.
| (25) Meetings of an independent team of experts under | Brian's Law. | (26) (25) Meetings of a mortality review team appointed | under the Department of Juvenile Justice Mortality Review | Team Act. |
| (27) (25) Confidential information, when discussed by | one or more members of an elder abuse fatality review team, | designated under Section 15 of the Elder Abuse and Neglect | Act, while participating in a review conducted by that team | of the death of an elderly person in which abuse or neglect | is suspected, alleged, or substantiated; provided that | before the review team holds a closed meeting, or closes an | open meeting, to discuss the confidential information, | each participating review team member seeking to disclose | the confidential information in the closed meeting or | closed portion of the meeting must state on the record | during an open meeting or the open portion of a meeting the | nature of the information to be disclosed and the legal | basis for otherwise holding that information confidential. | (28) Correspondence and records (i) that may not be | disclosed under Section 11-9 of the Public Aid Code or (ii) | that pertain to appeals under Section 11-8 of the Public | Aid Code. | (d) Definitions. For purposes of this Section:
| "Employee" means a person employed by a public body whose | relationship
with the public body constitutes an | employer-employee relationship under
the usual common law | rules, and who is not an independent contractor.
| "Public office" means a position created by or under the
| Constitution or laws of this State, the occupant of which is | charged with
the exercise of some portion of the sovereign |
| power of this State. The term
"public office" shall include | members of the public body, but it shall not
include | organizational positions filled by members thereof, whether
| established by law or by a public body itself, that exist to | assist the
body in the conduct of its business.
| "Quasi-adjudicative body" means an administrative body | charged by law or
ordinance with the responsibility to conduct | hearings, receive evidence or
testimony and make | determinations based
thereon, but does not include
local | electoral boards when such bodies are considering petition | challenges.
| (e) Final action. No final action may be taken at a closed | meeting.
Final action shall be preceded by a public recital of | the nature of the
matter being considered and other information | that will inform the
public of the business being conducted.
| (Source: P.A. 95-185, eff. 1-1-08; 96-1235, eff. 1-1-11; | 96-1378, eff. 7-29-10; 96-1428, eff. 8-11-10; revised 9-2-10.)
| Section 10. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by | changing Section 7 as follows: | (5 ILCS 140/7) (from Ch. 116, par. 207) | Sec. 7. Exemptions.
| (1) When a request is made to inspect or copy a public | record that contains information that is exempt from disclosure | under this Section, but also contains information that is not |
| exempt from disclosure, the public body may elect to redact the | information that is exempt. The public body shall make the | remaining information available for inspection and copying. | Subject to this requirement, the following shall be exempt from | inspection and copying:
| (a) Information specifically prohibited from | disclosure by federal or
State law or rules and regulations | implementing federal or State law.
| (b) Private information, unless disclosure is required | by another provision of this Act, a State or federal law or | a court order. | (b-5) Files, documents, and other data or databases | maintained by one or more law enforcement agencies and | specifically designed to provide information to one or more | law enforcement agencies regarding the physical or mental | status of one or more individual subjects. | (c) Personal information contained within public | records, the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly
| unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, unless the | disclosure is
consented to in writing by the individual | subjects of the information. "Unwarranted invasion of | personal privacy" means the disclosure of information that | is highly personal or objectionable to a reasonable person | and in which the subject's right to privacy outweighs any | legitimate public interest in obtaining the information. | The
disclosure of information that bears on the public |
| duties of public
employees and officials shall not be | considered an invasion of personal
privacy.
| (d) Records in the possession of any public body | created in the course of administrative enforcement
| proceedings, and any law enforcement or correctional | agency for
law enforcement purposes,
but only to the extent | that disclosure would:
| (i) interfere with pending or actually and | reasonably contemplated
law enforcement proceedings | conducted by any law enforcement or correctional
| agency that is the recipient of the request;
| (ii) interfere with active administrative | enforcement proceedings
conducted by the public body | that is the recipient of the request;
| (iii) create a substantial likelihood that a | person will be deprived of a fair trial or an impartial | hearing;
| (iv) unavoidably disclose the identity of a | confidential source, confidential information | furnished only by the confidential source, or persons | who file complaints with or provide information to | administrative, investigative, law enforcement, or | penal agencies; except that the identities of | witnesses to traffic accidents, traffic accident | reports, and rescue reports shall be provided by | agencies of local government, except when disclosure |
| would interfere with an active criminal investigation | conducted by the agency that is the recipient of the | request;
| (v) disclose unique or specialized investigative | techniques other than
those generally used and known or | disclose internal documents of
correctional agencies | related to detection, observation or investigation of
| incidents of crime or misconduct, and disclosure would | result in demonstrable harm to the agency or public | body that is the recipient of the request;
| (vi) endanger the life or physical safety of law | enforcement personnel
or any other person; or
| (vii) obstruct an ongoing criminal investigation | by the agency that is the recipient of the request.
| (e) Records that relate to or affect the security of | correctional
institutions and detention facilities.
| (f) Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations, | memoranda and other
records in which opinions are | expressed, or policies or actions are
formulated, except | that a specific record or relevant portion of a
record | shall not be exempt when the record is publicly cited
and | identified by the head of the public body. The exemption | provided in
this paragraph (f) extends to all those records | of officers and agencies
of the General Assembly that | pertain to the preparation of legislative
documents.
| (g) Trade secrets and commercial or financial |
| information obtained from
a person or business where the | trade secrets or commercial or financial information are | furnished under a claim that they are
proprietary, | privileged or confidential, and that disclosure of the | trade
secrets or commercial or financial information would | cause competitive harm to the person or business, and only | insofar as the claim directly applies to the records | requested. | The information included under this exemption includes | all trade secrets and commercial or financial information | obtained by a public body, including a public pension fund, | from a private equity fund or a privately held company | within the investment portfolio of a private equity fund as | a result of either investing or evaluating a potential | investment of public funds in a private equity fund. The | exemption contained in this item does not apply to the | aggregate financial performance information of a private | equity fund, nor to the identity of the fund's managers or | general partners. The exemption contained in this item does | not apply to the identity of a privately held company | within the investment portfolio of a private equity fund, | unless the disclosure of the identity of a privately held | company may cause competitive harm. | Nothing contained in this
paragraph (g) shall be | construed to prevent a person or business from
consenting | to disclosure.
|
| (h) Proposals and bids for any contract, grant, or | agreement, including
information which if it were | disclosed would frustrate procurement or give
an advantage | to any person proposing to enter into a contractor | agreement
with the body, until an award or final selection | is made. Information
prepared by or for the body in | preparation of a bid solicitation shall be
exempt until an | award or final selection is made.
| (i) Valuable formulae,
computer geographic systems,
| designs, drawings and research data obtained or
produced by | any public body when disclosure could reasonably be | expected to
produce private gain or public loss.
The | exemption for "computer geographic systems" provided in | this paragraph
(i) does not extend to requests made by news | media as defined in Section 2 of
this Act when the | requested information is not otherwise exempt and the only
| purpose of the request is to access and disseminate | information regarding the
health, safety, welfare, or | legal rights of the general public.
| (j) The following information pertaining to | educational matters: | (i) test questions, scoring keys and other | examination data used to
administer an academic | examination;
| (ii) information received by a primary or | secondary school, college, or university under its |
| procedures for the evaluation of faculty members by | their academic peers; | (iii) information concerning a school or | university's adjudication of student disciplinary | cases, but only to the extent that disclosure would | unavoidably reveal the identity of the student; and | (iv) course materials or research materials used | by faculty members. | (k) Architects' plans, engineers' technical | submissions, and
other
construction related technical | documents for
projects not constructed or developed in | whole or in part with public funds
and the same for | projects constructed or developed with public funds, | including but not limited to power generating and | distribution stations and other transmission and | distribution facilities, water treatment facilities, | airport facilities, sport stadiums, convention centers, | and all government owned, operated, or occupied buildings, | but
only to the extent
that disclosure would compromise | security.
| (l) Minutes of meetings of public bodies closed to the
| public as provided in the Open Meetings Act until the | public body
makes the minutes available to the public under | Section 2.06 of the Open
Meetings Act.
| (m) Communications between a public body and an | attorney or auditor
representing the public body that would |
| not be subject to discovery in
litigation, and materials | prepared or compiled by or for a public body in
| anticipation of a criminal, civil or administrative | proceeding upon the
request of an attorney advising the | public body, and materials prepared or
compiled with | respect to internal audits of public bodies.
| (n) Records relating to a public body's adjudication of | employee grievances or disciplinary cases; however, this | exemption shall not extend to the final outcome of cases in | which discipline is imposed.
| (o) Administrative or technical information associated | with automated
data processing operations, including but | not limited to software,
operating protocols, computer | program abstracts, file layouts, source
listings, object | modules, load modules, user guides, documentation
| pertaining to all logical and physical design of | computerized systems,
employee manuals, and any other | information that, if disclosed, would
jeopardize the | security of the system or its data or the security of
| materials exempt under this Section.
| (p) Records relating to collective negotiating matters
| between public bodies and their employees or | representatives, except that
any final contract or | agreement shall be subject to inspection and copying.
| (q) Test questions, scoring keys, and other | examination data used to determine the qualifications of an |
| applicant for a license or employment.
| (r) The records, documents, and information relating | to real estate
purchase negotiations until those | negotiations have been completed or
otherwise terminated. | With regard to a parcel involved in a pending or
actually | and reasonably contemplated eminent domain proceeding | under the Eminent Domain Act, records, documents and
| information relating to that parcel shall be exempt except | as may be
allowed under discovery rules adopted by the | Illinois Supreme Court. The
records, documents and | information relating to a real estate sale shall be
exempt | until a sale is consummated.
| (s) Any and all proprietary information and records | related to the
operation of an intergovernmental risk | management association or
self-insurance pool or jointly | self-administered health and accident
cooperative or pool.
| Insurance or self insurance (including any | intergovernmental risk management association or self | insurance pool) claims, loss or risk management | information, records, data, advice or communications.
| (t) Information contained in or related to | examination, operating, or
condition reports prepared by, | on behalf of, or for the use of a public
body responsible | for the regulation or supervision of financial
| institutions or insurance companies, unless disclosure is | otherwise
required by State law.
|
| (u) Information that would disclose
or might lead to | the disclosure of
secret or confidential information, | codes, algorithms, programs, or private
keys intended to be | used to create electronic or digital signatures under the
| Electronic Commerce Security Act.
| (v) Vulnerability assessments, security measures, and | response policies
or plans that are designed to identify, | prevent, or respond to potential
attacks upon a community's | population or systems, facilities, or installations,
the | destruction or contamination of which would constitute a | clear and present
danger to the health or safety of the | community, but only to the extent that
disclosure could | reasonably be expected to jeopardize the effectiveness of | the
measures or the safety of the personnel who implement | them or the public.
Information exempt under this item may | include such things as details
pertaining to the | mobilization or deployment of personnel or equipment, to | the
operation of communication systems or protocols, or to | tactical operations.
| (w) (Blank). | (x) Maps and other records regarding the location or | security of generation, transmission, distribution, | storage, gathering,
treatment, or switching facilities | owned by a utility, by a power generator, or by the | Illinois Power Agency.
| (y) Information contained in or related to proposals, |
| bids, or negotiations related to electric power | procurement under Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency | Act and Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act that | is determined to be confidential and proprietary by the | Illinois Power Agency or by the Illinois Commerce | Commission.
| (z) Information about students exempted from | disclosure under Sections 10-20.38 or 34-18.29 of the | School Code, and information about undergraduate students | enrolled at an institution of higher education exempted | from disclosure under Section 25 of the Illinois Credit | Card Marketing Act of 2009. | (aa) Information the disclosure of which is
exempted | under the Viatical Settlements Act of 2009.
| (bb) Records and information provided to a mortality | review team and records maintained by a mortality review | team appointed under the Department of Juvenile Justice | Mortality Review Team Act. | (cc) (bb) Information regarding interments, | entombments, or inurnments of human remains that are | submitted to the Cemetery Oversight Database under the | Cemetery Care Act or the Cemetery Oversight Act, whichever | is applicable. | (dd) Correspondence and records (i) that may not be | disclosed under Section 11-9 of the Public Aid Code or (ii) | that pertain to appeals under Section 11-8 of the Public |
| Aid Code. | (2) A public record that is not in the possession of a | public body but is in the possession of a party with whom the | agency has contracted to perform a governmental function on | behalf of the public body, and that directly relates to the | governmental function and is not otherwise exempt under this | Act, shall be considered a public record of the public body, | for purposes of this Act. | (3) This Section does not authorize withholding of | information or limit the
availability of records to the public, | except as stated in this Section or
otherwise provided in this | Act.
| (Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 95-481, eff. 8-28-07; | 95-941, eff. 8-29-08; 95-988, eff. 6-1-09; 96-261, eff. 1-1-10; | 96-328, eff. 8-11-09; 96-542, eff. 1-1-10; 96-558, eff. 1-1-10; | 96-736, eff. 7-1-10; 96-863, eff. 3-1-10; 96-1378, eff. | 7-29-10; revised 9-2-10.)
| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | becoming law.
|
Effective Date: 8/19/2011
|