99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016
HB5816
 
Introduced , by Rep. John D. Anthony
 
SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:



New Act
5 ILCS 140/7 from Ch. 116, par. 207

 Creates the Public Safety Officer Privacy Act. Prohibits a person, business, association, or government agency from publicly posting or displaying the personal information of a public safety officer 5 days after the receipt of an officer's written request to not post or display the personal information. Allows for injunctive or declaratory relief for violations. Prohibits a person, business, or association from soliciting, selling, or trading on the Internet a public safety officer's personal information with the intent to pose an imminent and serious threat to the health and safety of the public safety officer or the officer's immediate family. Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Excludes personal information of a public safety officer covered by the Public Safety Officer Privacy Act from being included as a public record under the Freedom of Information Act, and from inspection or copying under the Act.



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A BILL FOR
 


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1 AN ACT concerning government.


2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,

3represented in the General Assembly:



4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Public 
5Safety Officer Privacy Act.

6 Section 5. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to improve 
7the safety and security of Illinois public safety officers to 
8ensure they are able to uphold their duty to maintain public 
9safety without fear of personal reprisal from individuals 
10affected by the decisions they make in the course of carrying 
11out their public function. This Act is not intended to restrain 
12a public safety officer from independently making public his or 
13her own personal information. Additionally, no government 
14agency, person, business, or association has any obligation 
15under this Act to protect the privacy of a public safety 
16officer's personal information until the public safety officer 
17makes a written request that his or her personal information 
18not be publicly posted.

19 Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
20 "Correctional officer" means a person who is employed by or 
21works for a government agency penal institution.
22 "Fire fighter" means any
person appointed to a fire 
 
 
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1department or fire
protection district or employed by a 
2government agency and sworn or
commissioned to perform fire 
3fighter duties or paramedic duties, including part-time fire 
4fighters,
auxiliary, reserve or voluntary fire fighters, and 
5paid on-call fire
fighters.
6 "Government agency" includes all agencies, authorities, 
7boards, commissions, departments, institutions, offices, and 
8any other bodies politic and corporate of the State created by 
9the constitution or statute, whether in the executive, 
10judicial, or legislative branch; all units and corporate 
11outgrowths created by executive order of the Governor or any 
12constitutional officer, by the Supreme Court, or by resolution 
13of the General Assembly; or agencies, authorities, boards, 
14commissions, departments, institutions, offices, and any other 
15bodies politic and corporate of a unit of local government, or 
16school district.
17 "Home address" includes a public safety officer's 
18permanent residence and any secondary residences affirmatively 
19identified by the public safety officer, but does not include a 
20public safety officer's work address.
21 "Immediate family" includes a public safety officer's 
22spouse, child, parent, or any blood relative of the public 
23safety officer or the public safety officer's spouse who lives 
24in the same residence.
25 "Peace officer" or "officer" means a person defined under 
26Section 2-13 of the Criminal Code of 2012.
 
 
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1 "Penal institution" means an institution defined under 
2Section 2-14 of the Criminal Code of 2012.
3 "Personal information" means a home address, home 
4telephone number, mobile telephone number, pager number, 
5personal email address, social security number, federal tax 
6identification number, checking and savings account numbers, 
7credit card numbers, marital status, and identity of children 
8under the age of 18.
9 "Public safety officer" means a peace officer, fire 
10fighter, or correctional officer.
11 "Publicly available content" means any written, printed, 
12or electronic document or record that provides information or 
13that serves as a document or record maintained, controlled, or 
14in the possession of a government agency that may be obtained 
15by any person or entity, from the Internet, from the government 
16agency upon request either free of charge or for a fee, or in 
17response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
18 "Publicly post" or "publicly display" means to communicate 
19to another or otherwise make available to the general public.
20 "Written request" means written notice signed by a public 
21safety officer or a representative of the public safety 
22officer's employer requesting a government agency, person, 
23business, or association to refrain from posting or displaying 
24publicly available content that includes the public safety 
25officer's personal information.

 
 
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1 Section 15. Publicly posting or displaying a public safety 
2officer's personal information.
3 (a) Government agencies shall not publicly post or display 
4publicly available content that includes a public safety 
5officer's personal information, provided that the government 
6agency has received a written request in accordance with 
7Section 20 of this Act that it refrain from disclosing the 
8public safety officer's personal information. After a 
9government agency has received a written request, that agency 
10shall remove the public safety officer's personal information 
11from publicly available content within 5 business days. After 
12the government agency has removed the public safety officer's 
13personal information from publicly available content, the 
14agency shall not publicly post or display the information and 
15the public safety officer's personal information shall be 
16exempt from the Freedom of Information Act unless the 
17government agency has received consent from the public safety 
18officer to make the personal information available to the 
19public.
20 (b) All persons, businesses, and associations shall not 
21publicly post or display on the Internet available content that 
22includes a public safety officer's personal information, 
23provided that the public safety officer has made a written 
24request in accordance with Section 20 of this Act to the 
25person, business, or association that it refrain from 
26disclosing the personal information. After a person, business, 
 
 
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1or association has received a written request from a public 
2safety officer to protect the privacy of the officer's personal 
3information, that person, business, or association shall have 5 
4business days to remove the personal information from the 
5Internet. That person, business, or association shall also 
6ensure that the public safety officer's personal information is 
7not made available on any website or subsidiary website 
8controlled by that person, business, or association, nor 
9transferred to any other person, business, or association 
10through any medium. Regardless of whether a written request has 
11been made, no person, business, or association shall solicit, 
12sell, or trade on the Internet a public safety officer's 
13personal information with the intent to pose an imminent and 
14serious threat to the health and safety of the public safety 
15officer or the public safety officer's immediate family.
16 (c) A public safety officer whose personal information is 
17made public as a result of a violation of this Act may bring an 
18action seeking injunctive or declaratory relief in any court of 
19competent jurisdiction.

20 Section 20. Procedure for completing a written request.
21 (a) No government agency, person, business, or association 
22shall be found to have violated any provision of this Act if 
23the public safety officer fails to submit a written request 
24calling for the protection of the officer's personal 
25information.
 
 
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1 (b) A written request shall be valid if the public safety 
2officer sends a written request directly to a government 
3agency, person, business, or association.
4 (c) A representative from the public safety officer's 
5employer may submit a written request on the public safety 
6officer's behalf, provided that the public safety officer gives 
7written consent to the representative and the representative 
8agrees to furnish a copy of that consent when a written request 
9is made. The representative shall submit the written request as 
10provided in subsection (b) of this Section.
11 (d) A public safety officer's written request shall specify 
12what personal information shall be maintained private. If a 
13public safety officer wishes to identify a secondary residence 
14as a home address, the designation shall be made in the written 
15request. A public safety officer shall disclose the identity of 
16the officer's immediate family and indicate that the personal 
17information of these family members shall also be excluded to 
18the extent that it could reasonably be expected to reveal the 
19personal information of the public safety officer.
20 (e) A public safety officer's written request is valid 
21until he or she provides the government agency, person, 
22business, or association with written permission to release the 
23private information. A public safety officer's written request 
24expires upon death of the officer.


25 Section 105. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by 
 
 
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1changing Section 7 as follows:

2 (5 ILCS 140/7) (from Ch. 116, par. 207)
3 Sec. 7. Exemptions.

4 (1) When a request is made to inspect or copy a public 
5record that contains information that is exempt from disclosure 
6under this Section, but also contains information that is not 
7exempt from disclosure, the public body may elect to redact the 
8information that is exempt. The public body shall make the 
9remaining information available for inspection and copying. 
10Subject to this requirement, the following shall be exempt from 
11inspection and copying:


12  (a) Information specifically prohibited from 
13 disclosure by federal or
State law or rules and regulations 
14 implementing federal or State law.


15  (b) Private information, unless disclosure is required 
16 by another provision of this Act, a State or federal law or 
17 a court order. 
18  (b-5) Files, documents, and other data or databases 
19 maintained by one or more law enforcement agencies and 
20 specifically designed to provide information to one or more 
21 law enforcement agencies regarding the physical or mental 
22 status of one or more individual subjects. 
23  (c) Personal information contained within public 
24 records, the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly

25 unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, unless the 
 
 
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1 disclosure is
consented to in writing by the individual 
2 subjects of the information. "Unwarranted invasion of 
3 personal privacy" means the disclosure of information that 
4 is highly personal or objectionable to a reasonable person 
5 and in which the subject's right to privacy outweighs any 
6 legitimate public interest in obtaining the information. 
7 The
disclosure of information that bears on the public 
8 duties of public
employees and officials shall not be 
9 considered an invasion of personal
privacy.


10  (d) Records in the possession of any public body 
11 created in the course of administrative enforcement

12 proceedings, and any law enforcement or correctional 
13 agency for
law enforcement purposes,
but only to the extent 
14 that disclosure would:


15   (i) interfere with pending or actually and 
16 reasonably contemplated
law enforcement proceedings 
17 conducted by any law enforcement or correctional

18 agency that is the recipient of the request;


19   (ii) interfere with active administrative 
20 enforcement proceedings
conducted by the public body 
21 that is the recipient of the request;


22   (iii) create a substantial likelihood that a 
23 person will be deprived of a fair trial or an impartial 
24 hearing;


25   (iv) unavoidably disclose the identity of a 
26 confidential source, confidential information 
 
 
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1 furnished only by the confidential source, or persons 
2 who file complaints with or provide information to 
3 administrative, investigative, law enforcement, or 
4 penal agencies; except that the identities of 
5 witnesses to traffic accidents, traffic accident 
6 reports, and rescue reports shall be provided by 
7 agencies of local government, except when disclosure 
8 would interfere with an active criminal investigation 
9 conducted by the agency that is the recipient of the 
10 request;


11   (v) disclose unique or specialized investigative 
12 techniques other than
those generally used and known or 
13 disclose internal documents of
correctional agencies 
14 related to detection, observation or investigation of

15 incidents of crime or misconduct, and disclosure would 
16 result in demonstrable harm to the agency or public 
17 body that is the recipient of the request;


18   (vi) endanger the life or physical safety of law 
19 enforcement personnel
or any other person; or


20   (vii) obstruct an ongoing criminal investigation 
21 by the agency that is the recipient of the request.


22  (d-5) A law enforcement record created for law 
23 enforcement purposes and contained in a shared electronic 
24 record management system if the law enforcement agency that 
25 is the recipient of the request did not create the record, 
26 did not participate in or have a role in any of the events 
 
 
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1 which are the subject of the record, and only has access to 
2 the record through the shared electronic record management 
3 system. 
4  (e) Records that relate to or affect the security of 
5 correctional
institutions and detention facilities.


6  (e-5) Records requested by persons committed to the 
7 Department of Corrections if those materials are available 
8 in the library of the correctional facility where the 
9 inmate is confined. 
10  (e-6) Records requested by persons committed to the 
11 Department of Corrections if those materials include 
12 records from staff members' personnel files, staff 
13 rosters, or other staffing assignment information. 
14  (e-7) Records requested by persons committed to the 
15 Department of Corrections if those materials are available 
16 through an administrative request to the Department of 
17 Corrections. 
18  (f) Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations, 
19 memoranda and other
records in which opinions are 
20 expressed, or policies or actions are
formulated, except 
21 that a specific record or relevant portion of a
record 
22 shall not be exempt when the record is publicly cited
and 
23 identified by the head of the public body. The exemption 
24 provided in
this paragraph (f) extends to all those records 
25 of officers and agencies
of the General Assembly that 
26 pertain to the preparation of legislative
documents.


 
 
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1  (g) Trade secrets and commercial or financial 
2 information obtained from
a person or business where the 
3 trade secrets or commercial or financial information are 
4 furnished under a claim that they are
proprietary, 
5 privileged or confidential, and that disclosure of the 
6 trade
secrets or commercial or financial information would 
7 cause competitive harm to the person or business, and only 
8 insofar as the claim directly applies to the records 
9 requested.
10  The information included under this exemption includes 
11 all trade secrets and commercial or financial information 
12 obtained by a public body, including a public pension fund, 
13 from a private equity fund or a privately held company 
14 within the investment portfolio of a private equity fund as 
15 a result of either investing or evaluating a potential 
16 investment of public funds in a private equity fund. The 
17 exemption contained in this item does not apply to the 
18 aggregate financial performance information of a private 
19 equity fund, nor to the identity of the fund's managers or 
20 general partners. The exemption contained in this item does 
21 not apply to the identity of a privately held company 
22 within the investment portfolio of a private equity fund, 
23 unless the disclosure of the identity of a privately held 
24 company may cause competitive harm.
25  Nothing contained in this
paragraph (g) shall be 
26 construed to prevent a person or business from
consenting 
 
 
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1 to disclosure.


2  (h) Proposals and bids for any contract, grant, or 
3 agreement, including
information which if it were 
4 disclosed would frustrate procurement or give
an advantage 
5 to any person proposing to enter into a contractor 
6 agreement
with the body, until an award or final selection 
7 is made. Information
prepared by or for the body in 
8 preparation of a bid solicitation shall be
exempt until an 
9 award or final selection is made.


10  (i) Valuable formulae,
computer geographic systems,

11 designs, drawings and research data obtained or
produced by 
12 any public body when disclosure could reasonably be 
13 expected to
produce private gain or public loss.
The 
14 exemption for "computer geographic systems" provided in 
15 this paragraph
(i) does not extend to requests made by news 
16 media as defined in Section 2 of
this Act when the 
17 requested information is not otherwise exempt and the only

18 purpose of the request is to access and disseminate 
19 information regarding the
health, safety, welfare, or 
20 legal rights of the general public.


21  (j) The following information pertaining to 
22 educational matters:
23   (i) test questions, scoring keys and other 
24 examination data used to
administer an academic 
25 examination;


26   (ii) information received by a primary or 
 
 
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1 secondary school, college, or university under its 
2 procedures for the evaluation of faculty members by 
3 their academic peers; 
4   (iii) information concerning a school or 
5 university's adjudication of student disciplinary 
6 cases, but only to the extent that disclosure would 
7 unavoidably reveal the identity of the student; and
8   (iv) course materials or research materials used 
9 by faculty members. 
10  (k) Architects' plans, engineers' technical 
11 submissions, and
other
construction related technical 
12 documents for
projects not constructed or developed in 
13 whole or in part with public funds
and the same for 
14 projects constructed or developed with public funds, 
15 including but not limited to power generating and 
16 distribution stations and other transmission and 
17 distribution facilities, water treatment facilities, 
18 airport facilities, sport stadiums, convention centers, 
19 and all government owned, operated, or occupied buildings, 
20 but
only to the extent
that disclosure would compromise 
21 security.


22  (l) Minutes of meetings of public bodies closed to the

23 public as provided in the Open Meetings Act until the 
24 public body
makes the minutes available to the public under 
25 Section 2.06 of the Open
Meetings Act.


26  (m) Communications between a public body and an 
 
 
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1 attorney or auditor
representing the public body that would 
2 not be subject to discovery in
litigation, and materials 
3 prepared or compiled by or for a public body in

4 anticipation of a criminal, civil or administrative 
5 proceeding upon the
request of an attorney advising the 
6 public body, and materials prepared or
compiled with 
7 respect to internal audits of public bodies.


8  (n) Records relating to a public body's adjudication of 
9 employee grievances or disciplinary cases; however, this 
10 exemption shall not extend to the final outcome of cases in 
11 which discipline is imposed.


12  (o) Administrative or technical information associated 
13 with automated
data processing operations, including but 
14 not limited to software,
operating protocols, computer 
15 program abstracts, file layouts, source
listings, object 
16 modules, load modules, user guides, documentation

17 pertaining to all logical and physical design of 
18 computerized systems,
employee manuals, and any other 
19 information that, if disclosed, would
jeopardize the 
20 security of the system or its data or the security of

21 materials exempt under this Section.


22  (p) Records relating to collective negotiating matters

23 between public bodies and their employees or 
24 representatives, except that
any final contract or 
25 agreement shall be subject to inspection and copying.


26  (q) Test questions, scoring keys, and other 
 
 
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1 examination data used to determine the qualifications of an 
2 applicant for a license or employment.


3  (r) The records, documents, and information relating 
4 to real estate
purchase negotiations until those 
5 negotiations have been completed or
otherwise terminated. 
6 With regard to a parcel involved in a pending or
actually 
7 and reasonably contemplated eminent domain proceeding 
8 under the Eminent Domain Act, records, documents and

9 information relating to that parcel shall be exempt except 
10 as may be
allowed under discovery rules adopted by the 
11 Illinois Supreme Court. The
records, documents and 
12 information relating to a real estate sale shall be
exempt 
13 until a sale is consummated.


14  (s) Any and all proprietary information and records 
15 related to the
operation of an intergovernmental risk 
16 management association or
self-insurance pool or jointly 
17 self-administered health and accident
cooperative or pool.

18 Insurance or self insurance (including any 
19 intergovernmental risk management association or self 
20 insurance pool) claims, loss or risk management 
21 information, records, data, advice or communications. 

22  (t) Information contained in or related to 
23 examination, operating, or
condition reports prepared by, 
24 on behalf of, or for the use of a public
body responsible 
25 for the regulation or supervision of financial

26 institutions or insurance companies, unless disclosure is 
 
 
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1 otherwise
required by State law.


2  (u) Information that would disclose
or might lead to 
3 the disclosure of
secret or confidential information, 
4 codes, algorithms, programs, or private
keys intended to be 
5 used to create electronic or digital signatures under the

6 Electronic Commerce Security Act.


7  (v) Vulnerability assessments, security measures, and 
8 response policies
or plans that are designed to identify, 
9 prevent, or respond to potential
attacks upon a community's 
10 population or systems, facilities, or installations,
the 
11 destruction or contamination of which would constitute a 
12 clear and present
danger to the health or safety of the 
13 community, but only to the extent that
disclosure could 
14 reasonably be expected to jeopardize the effectiveness of 
15 the
measures or the safety of the personnel who implement 
16 them or the public.
Information exempt under this item may 
17 include such things as details
pertaining to the 
18 mobilization or deployment of personnel or equipment, to 
19 the
operation of communication systems or protocols, or to 
20 tactical operations.


21  (w) (Blank). 
22  (x) Maps and other records regarding the location or 
23 security of generation, transmission, distribution, 
24 storage, gathering,
treatment, or switching facilities 
25 owned by a utility, by a power generator, or by the 
26 Illinois Power Agency.


 
 
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1  (y) Information contained in or related to proposals, 
2 bids, or negotiations related to electric power 
3 procurement under Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency 
4 Act and Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act that 
5 is determined to be confidential and proprietary by the 
6 Illinois Power Agency or by the Illinois Commerce 
7 Commission.

8  (z) Information about students exempted from 
9 disclosure under Sections 10-20.38 or 34-18.29 of the 
10 School Code, and information about undergraduate students 
11 enrolled at an institution of higher education exempted 
12 from disclosure under Section 25 of the Illinois Credit 
13 Card Marketing Act of 2009. 
14  (aa) Information the disclosure of which is
exempted 
15 under the Viatical Settlements Act of 2009.

16  (bb) Records and information provided to a mortality 
17 review team and records maintained by a mortality review 
18 team appointed under the Department of Juvenile Justice 
19 Mortality Review Team Act. 
20  (cc) Information regarding interments, entombments, or 
21 inurnments of human remains that are submitted to the 
22 Cemetery Oversight Database under the Cemetery Care Act or 
23 the Cemetery Oversight Act, whichever is applicable.
24  (dd) Correspondence and records (i) that may not be 
25 disclosed under Section 11-9 of the Public Aid Code or (ii) 
26 that pertain to appeals under Section 11-8 of the Public 
 
 
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1 Aid Code. 
2  (ee) The names, addresses, or other personal 
3 information of persons who are minors and are also 
4 participants and registrants in programs of park 
5 districts, forest preserve districts, conservation 
6 districts, recreation agencies, and special recreation 
7 associations.
8  (ff) The names, addresses, or other personal 
9 information of participants and registrants in programs of 
10 park districts, forest preserve districts, conservation 
11 districts, recreation agencies, and special recreation 
12 associations where such programs are targeted primarily to 
13 minors.
14  (gg) Confidential information described in Section 
15 1-100 of the Illinois Independent Tax Tribunal Act of 2012. 
16  (hh) The report submitted to the State Board of 
17 Education by the School Security and Standards Task Force 
18 under item (8) of subsection (d) of Section 2-3.160 of the 
19 School Code and any information contained in that report. 
20  (ii) Records requested by persons committed to or 
21 detained by the Department of Human Services under the 
22 Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act or committed to the 
23 Department of Corrections under the Sexually Dangerous 
24 Persons Act if those materials: (i) are available in the 
25 library of the facility where the individual is confined; 
26 (ii) include records from staff members' personnel files, 
 
 
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1 staff rosters, or other staffing assignment information; 
2 or (iii) are available through an administrative request to 
3 the Department of Human Services or the Department of 
4 Corrections.
5  (jj) (ii) Confidential information described in 
6 Section 5-535 of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. 
7 (1.5) Any information exempt from disclosure under the 
8Judicial Privacy Act shall be redacted from public records 
9prior to disclosure under this Act. 
10 (1.7) Any information exempt from disclosure under the 
11Public Safety Officer Privacy Act shall be redacted from public 
12records prior to disclosure under this Act. 
13 (2) A public record that is not in the possession of a 
14public body but is in the possession of a party with whom the 
15agency has contracted to perform a governmental function on 
16behalf of the public body, and that directly relates to the 
17governmental function and is not otherwise exempt under this 
18Act, shall be considered a public record of the public body, 
19for purposes of this Act. 
20 (3) This Section does not authorize withholding of 
21information or limit the
availability of records to the public, 
22except as stated in this Section or
otherwise provided in this 
23Act.


24(Source: P.A. 98-463, eff. 8-16-13; 98-578, eff. 8-27-13; 
2598-695, eff. 7-3-14; 99-298, eff. 8-6-15; 99-346, eff. 1-1-16; 
26revised 1-11-16.)