Bill Text: IL HB2617 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that "document", when used in reference to a public body, includes, but is not limited to, documents maintained by the clerk of the circuit court and otherwise available to the public. Amends the Judicial Privacy Act. Provides that "judicial officer" includes actively employed and former or deceased State's Attorneys.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-03-10 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB2617 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB2617-Introduced.html


103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB2617

Introduced , by Rep. Patrick Windhorst

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
5 ILCS 140/2 from Ch. 116, par. 202
705 ILCS 90/1-10

Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that "document", when used in reference to a public body, includes, but is not limited to, documents maintained by the clerk of the circuit court and otherwise available to the public. Amends the Judicial Privacy Act. Provides that "judicial officer" includes actively employed and former or deceased State's Attorneys.
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A BILL FOR

HB2617LRB103 28107 LNS 54486 b
1 AN ACT concerning courts.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by
5changing Section 2 as follows:
6 (5 ILCS 140/2) (from Ch. 116, par. 202)
7 Sec. 2. Definitions. As used in this Act:
8 (a) "Public body" means all legislative, executive,
9administrative, or advisory bodies of the State, state
10universities and colleges, counties, townships, cities,
11villages, incorporated towns, school districts and all other
12municipal corporations, boards, bureaus, committees, or
13commissions of this State, any subsidiary bodies of any of the
14foregoing including but not limited to committees and
15subcommittees thereof, and a School Finance Authority created
16under Article 1E of the School Code. "Public body" does not
17include a child death review team or the Illinois Child Death
18Review Teams Executive Council established under the Child
19Death Review Team Act, or a regional youth advisory board or
20the Statewide Youth Advisory Board established under the
21Department of Children and Family Services Statewide Youth
22Advisory Board Act.
23 (b) "Person" means any individual, corporation,

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1partnership, firm, organization or association, acting
2individually or as a group.
3 (c) "Public records" means all records, reports, forms,
4writings, letters, memoranda, books, papers, maps,
5photographs, microfilms, cards, tapes, recordings, electronic
6data processing records, electronic communications, recorded
7information and all other documentary materials pertaining to
8the transaction of public business, regardless of physical
9form or characteristics, having been prepared by or for, or
10having been or being used by, received by, in the possession
11of, or under the control of any public body.
12 (c-5) "Private information" means unique identifiers,
13including a person's social security number, driver's license
14number, employee identification number, biometric identifiers,
15personal financial information, passwords or other access
16codes, medical records, home or personal telephone numbers,
17and personal email addresses. Private information also
18includes home address and personal license plates, except as
19otherwise provided by law or when compiled without possibility
20of attribution to any person.
21 (c-10) "Commercial purpose" means the use of any part of a
22public record or records, or information derived from public
23records, in any form for sale, resale, or solicitation or
24advertisement for sales or services. For purposes of this
25definition, requests made by news media and non-profit,
26scientific, or academic organizations shall not be considered

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1to be made for a "commercial purpose" when the principal
2purpose of the request is (i) to access and disseminate
3information concerning news and current or passing events,
4(ii) for articles of opinion or features of interest to the
5public, or (iii) for the purpose of academic, scientific, or
6public research or education.
7 (d) "Copying" means the reproduction of any public record
8by means of any photographic, electronic, mechanical or other
9process, device or means now known or hereafter developed and
10available to the public body.
11 (e) "Head of the public body" means the president, mayor,
12chairman, presiding officer, director, superintendent,
13manager, supervisor or individual otherwise holding primary
14executive and administrative authority for the public body, or
15such person's duly authorized designee.
16 (f) "News media" means a newspaper or other periodical
17issued at regular intervals whether in print or electronic
18format, a news service whether in print or electronic format,
19a radio station, a television station, a television network, a
20community antenna television service, or a person or
21corporation engaged in making news reels or other motion
22picture news for public showing.
23 (g) "Recurrent requester", as used in Section 3.2 of this
24Act, means a person that, in the 12 months immediately
25preceding the request, has submitted to the same public body
26(i) a minimum of 50 requests for records, (ii) a minimum of 15

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1requests for records within a 30-day period, or (iii) a
2minimum of 7 requests for records within a 7-day period. For
3purposes of this definition, requests made by news media and
4non-profit, scientific, or academic organizations shall not be
5considered in calculating the number of requests made in the
6time periods in this definition when the principal purpose of
7the requests is (i) to access and disseminate information
8concerning news and current or passing events, (ii) for
9articles of opinion or features of interest to the public, or
10(iii) for the purpose of academic, scientific, or public
11research or education.
12 For the purposes of this subsection (g), "request" means a
13written document (or oral request, if the public body chooses
14to honor oral requests) that is submitted to a public body via
15personal delivery, mail, telefax, electronic mail, or other
16means available to the public body and that identifies the
17particular public record the requester seeks. One request may
18identify multiple records to be inspected or copied.
19 (h) "Voluminous request" means a request that: (i)
20includes more than 5 individual requests for more than 5
21different categories of records or a combination of individual
22requests that total requests for more than 5 different
23categories of records in a period of 20 business days; or (ii)
24requires the compilation of more than 500 letter or
25legal-sized pages of public records unless a single requested
26record exceeds 500 pages. "Single requested record" may

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1include, but is not limited to, one report, form, e-mail,
2letter, memorandum, book, map, microfilm, tape, or recording.
3 "Voluminous request" does not include a request made by
4news media and non-profit, scientific, or academic
5organizations if the principal purpose of the request is: (1)
6to access and disseminate information concerning news and
7current or passing events; (2) for articles of opinion or
8features of interest to the public; or (3) for the purpose of
9academic, scientific, or public research or education.
10 For the purposes of this subsection (h), "request" means a
11written document, or oral request, if the public body chooses
12to honor oral requests, that is submitted to a public body via
13personal delivery, mail, telefax, electronic mail, or other
14means available to the public body and that identifies the
15particular public record or records the requester seeks. One
16request may identify multiple individual records to be
17inspected or copied.
18 (i) "Severance agreement" means a mutual agreement between
19any public body and its employee for the employee's
20resignation in exchange for payment by the public body.
21 (j) "Document", when used in reference to a public body,
22includes, but is not limited to, documents maintained by the
23clerk of the circuit court and otherwise available to the
24public.
25(Source: P.A. 98-806, eff. 1-1-15; 98-1129, eff. 12-3-14;
2699-78, eff. 7-20-15; 99-478, eff. 6-1-16.)

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1 Section 10. The Judicial Privacy Act is amended by
2changing Section 1-10 as follows:
3 (705 ILCS 90/1-10)
4 Sec. 1-10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
5 "Government agency" includes all agencies, authorities,
6boards, commissions, departments, institutions, offices, and
7any other bodies politic and corporate of the State created by
8the constitution or statute, whether in the executive,
9judicial, or legislative branch; all units and corporate
10outgrowths created by executive order of the Governor or any
11constitutional officer, by the Supreme Court, or by resolution
12of the General Assembly; or agencies, authorities, boards,
13commissions, departments, institutions, offices, and any other
14bodies politic and corporate of a unit of local government, or
15school district.
16 "Home address" includes a judicial officer's permanent
17residence and any secondary residences affirmatively
18identified by the judicial officer, but does not include a
19judicial officer's work address.
20 "Immediate family" includes a judicial officer's spouse,
21child, parent, or any blood relative of the judicial officer
22or the judicial officer's spouse who lives in the same
23residence.
24 "Judicial officer" includes actively employed and former

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1or deceased:
2 (1) Justices of the United States Supreme Court and
3 the Illinois Supreme Court;
4 (2) Judges of the United States Court of Appeals;
5 (3) Judges and magistrate judges of the United States
6 District Court;
7 (4) Judges of the United States Bankruptcy Court;
8 (5) Judges of the Illinois Appellate Court; and
9 (6) Judges and associate judges of the Illinois
10 Circuit Courts; and
11 (7) State's Attorneys as designated under Article VI,
12 Section 19 of the Illinois Constitution..
13 "Personal information" means a home address, home
14telephone number, mobile telephone number, pager number,
15personal email address, social security number, federal tax
16identification number, checking and savings account numbers,
17credit card numbers, marital status, and identity of children
18under the age of 18.
19 "Publicly available content" means any written, printed,
20or electronic document or record that provides information or
21that serves as a document or record maintained, controlled, or
22in the possession of a government agency that may be obtained
23by any person or entity, from the Internet, from the
24government agency upon request either free of charge or for a
25fee, or in response to a request under the Freedom of
26Information Act.

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1 "Publicly post" or "publicly display" means to communicate
2to another or otherwise make available to the general public.
3 "Written request" means written notice signed by a
4judicial officer or a representative of the judicial officer's
5employer requesting a government agency, person, business, or
6association to refrain from posting or displaying publicly
7available content that includes the judicial officer's
8personal information.
9(Source: P.A. 100-98, eff. 8-11-17.)
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