Bill Text: IL HB6147 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends the Open Meetings Act. Provides that no public body may refuse to allow any of its members to attend any open or closed meeting of the public body. Provides that a court shall (rather than may) assess against any party, except a State's Attorney, reasonable attorney's fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred by any other party who substantially prevails in any action for non-compliance with the Open Meetings Act. Provides that the attorney's fees and other litigation costs assessed by the court shall be awarded directly to the Office of the Attorney General. Provides that upon a request to review whether a public body committed a violation under the Open Meetings Act, the Attorney General shall issue to the requester and the public body an opinion within 20 days (rather than 60 days) after initiating review.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-04-22 - House Committee Amendment No. 1 Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB6147 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2015-HB6147-Introduced.html
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1 | AN ACT concerning government.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Open Meetings Act is amended by changing | |||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Sections 2.01, 3, and 3.5 as follows:
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6 | (5 ILCS 120/2.01) (from Ch. 102, par. 42.01)
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7 | Sec. 2.01. All meetings required by this Act to be public | |||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | shall be held at
specified times and places which are | |||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | convenient and open
to the public. No meeting
required by this | |||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | Act to be public shall be held on a legal holiday unless
the | |||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | regular meeting day falls on that holiday.
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12 | A quorum of members of a public body must be physically | |||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | present at the location of an open meeting. If, however, an | |||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | open meeting of a public body (i) with statewide jurisdiction, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | (ii) that is an Illinois library system with jurisdiction over | |||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | a specific geographic area of more than 4,500 square miles, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | (iii) that is a municipal transit district with jurisdiction | |||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | over a specific geographic area of more than 4,500 square | |||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | miles, or (iv) that is a local workforce investment area with | |||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | jurisdiction over a specific geographic area of more than 4,500 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | square miles is held simultaneously at one of its offices and | |||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | one or more other locations in a public building, which may | |||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | include other of its offices, through an interactive video |
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1 | conference and the public body provides public notice and | ||||||
2 | public access as required under this Act for all locations, | ||||||
3 | then members physically present in those locations all count | ||||||
4 | towards determining a quorum. "Public building", as used in | ||||||
5 | this Section, means any building or portion thereof owned or | ||||||
6 | leased by any public body. The requirement that a quorum be | ||||||
7 | physically present at the location of an open meeting shall not | ||||||
8 | apply, however, to State advisory boards or bodies that do not | ||||||
9 | have authority to make binding recommendations or | ||||||
10 | determinations or to take any other substantive action.
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11 | A quorum of members of a public body that is not (i) a | ||||||
12 | public body with statewide jurisdiction, (ii) an Illinois | ||||||
13 | library system with jurisdiction over a specific geographic | ||||||
14 | area of more than 4,500 square miles, (iii) a municipal transit | ||||||
15 | district with jurisdiction over a specific geographic area of | ||||||
16 | more than 4,500 square miles, or (iv) a local workforce | ||||||
17 | investment area with jurisdiction over a specific geographic | ||||||
18 | area of more than 4,500 square miles must be physically present | ||||||
19 | at the location of a closed meeting. Other members who are not | ||||||
20 | physically present at a closed meeting of such a public body | ||||||
21 | may participate in the meeting by means of a video or audio | ||||||
22 | conference.
For the purposes of this Section, "local workforce | ||||||
23 | investment area" means any local workforce investment area or | ||||||
24 | areas designated by the Governor pursuant to the federal | ||||||
25 | Workforce Investment Act of 1998 or its reauthorizing | ||||||
26 | legislation. |
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1 | No public body may refuse to allow any of its members to | ||||||
2 | attend any open or closed meeting of the public body. | ||||||
3 | (Source: P.A. 98-992, eff. 8-18-14.)
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4 | (5 ILCS 120/3) (from Ch. 102, par. 43)
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5 | Sec. 3.
(a) Where the provisions of this Act are not | ||||||
6 | complied with, or
where there is probable cause to believe that | ||||||
7 | the provisions of this Act
will not be complied with, any | ||||||
8 | person, including the State's Attorney
of the county in which | ||||||
9 | such noncompliance
may occur, may bring a civil action in the | ||||||
10 | circuit court for the judicial
circuit in which the alleged | ||||||
11 | noncompliance has occurred or is about to occur,
or in which | ||||||
12 | the affected public body has its principal office, prior to
or | ||||||
13 | within 60 days of the meeting alleged to be in
violation of | ||||||
14 | this Act or, if facts concerning the meeting are not discovered
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15 | within the 60-day period,
within 60 days of the discovery of a | ||||||
16 | violation by the State's
Attorney.
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17 | Records that are obtained by a State's Attorney from a | ||||||
18 | public body for purposes of reviewing whether the public body | ||||||
19 | has complied with this Act may not be disclosed to the public. | ||||||
20 | Those records, while in the possession of the State's Attorney, | ||||||
21 | are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information | ||||||
22 | Act. | ||||||
23 | (b) In deciding such a case the court may examine in camera | ||||||
24 | any portion
of the minutes of a meeting at which a violation of | ||||||
25 | the Act is alleged to
have occurred, and may take such |
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1 | additional evidence as it deems necessary.
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2 | (c) The court, having due regard for orderly administration | ||||||
3 | and the public
interest, as well as for the interests of the | ||||||
4 | parties, may grant such
relief as it deems appropriate, | ||||||
5 | including granting a relief
by mandamus requiring that a | ||||||
6 | meeting be open
to the public, granting an injunction against | ||||||
7 | future violations of this
Act, ordering the public body to make | ||||||
8 | available to the public such portion
of the minutes of a | ||||||
9 | meeting as is not
authorized to be kept confidential under this | ||||||
10 | Act, or declaring null and
void any final action taken at a | ||||||
11 | closed meeting in violation of this Act.
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12 | (d) The court shall may assess against any party, except a | ||||||
13 | State's Attorney,
reasonable attorney's fees and other | ||||||
14 | litigation costs reasonably incurred
by any other party who | ||||||
15 | substantially prevails in any action brought in
accordance with | ||||||
16 | this Section, provided that costs may be assessed against
any | ||||||
17 | private party or parties bringing an action pursuant to this | ||||||
18 | Section
only upon the court's determination that the action is | ||||||
19 | malicious or frivolous
in nature. The attorney's fees and other | ||||||
20 | litigation costs assessed by the court under this subsection | ||||||
21 | (d) shall be awarded directly to the Office of the Attorney | ||||||
22 | General.
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23 | (Source: P.A. 96-542, eff. 1-1-10.)
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24 | (5 ILCS 120/3.5)
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25 | Sec. 3.5. Public Access Counselor; opinions. |
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1 | (a) A person who believes that a violation of this Act by a | ||||||
2 | public body has occurred may file a request for review with the | ||||||
3 | Public Access Counselor established in the Office of the | ||||||
4 | Attorney General not later than 60 days after the alleged | ||||||
5 | violation. If facts concerning the violation are not discovered | ||||||
6 | within the 60-day period, but are discovered at a later date, | ||||||
7 | not exceeding 2 years after the alleged violation, by a person | ||||||
8 | utilizing reasonable diligence, the request for review may be | ||||||
9 | made within 60 days of the discovery of the alleged violation. | ||||||
10 | The request for review must be in writing, must be signed by | ||||||
11 | the requester, and must include a summary of the facts | ||||||
12 | supporting the allegation. The changes made by this amendatory | ||||||
13 | Act of the 99th General Assembly apply to violations alleged to | ||||||
14 | have occurred at meetings held on or after the effective date | ||||||
15 | of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly. | ||||||
16 | (b) Upon receipt of a request for review, the Public Access | ||||||
17 | Counselor shall determine whether further action is warranted. | ||||||
18 | If the Public Access Counselor determines from the request for | ||||||
19 | review that the alleged violation is unfounded, he or she shall | ||||||
20 | so advise the requester and the public body and no further | ||||||
21 | action shall be undertaken. In all other cases, the Public | ||||||
22 | Access Counselor shall forward a copy of the request for review | ||||||
23 | to the public body within 7 working days. The Public Access | ||||||
24 | Counselor shall specify the records or other documents that the | ||||||
25 | public body shall furnish to facilitate the review. Within 7 | ||||||
26 | working days after receipt of the request for review, the |
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1 | public body shall provide copies of the records requested and | ||||||
2 | shall otherwise fully cooperate with the Public Access | ||||||
3 | Counselor. If a public body fails to furnish specified records | ||||||
4 | pursuant to this Section, or if otherwise necessary, the | ||||||
5 | Attorney General may issue a subpoena to any person or public | ||||||
6 | body having knowledge of or records pertaining to an alleged | ||||||
7 | violation of this Act. For purposes of conducting a thorough | ||||||
8 | review, the Public Access Counselor has the same right to | ||||||
9 | examine a verbatim recording of a meeting closed to the public | ||||||
10 | or the minutes of a closed meeting as does a court in a civil | ||||||
11 | action brought to enforce this Act. | ||||||
12 | (c) Within 7 working days after it receives a copy of a | ||||||
13 | request for review and request for production of records from | ||||||
14 | the Public Access Counselor, the public body may, but is not | ||||||
15 | required to, answer the allegations of the request for review. | ||||||
16 | The answer may take the form of a letter, brief, or memorandum. | ||||||
17 | Upon request, the public body may also furnish the Public | ||||||
18 | Access Counselor with a redacted copy of the answer excluding | ||||||
19 | specific references to any matters at issue. The Public Access | ||||||
20 | Counselor shall forward a copy of the answer or redacted | ||||||
21 | answer, if furnished, to the person submitting the request for | ||||||
22 | review. The requester may, but is not required to, respond in | ||||||
23 | writing to the answer within 7 working days and shall provide a | ||||||
24 | copy of the response to the public body. | ||||||
25 | (d) In addition to the request for review, and the answer | ||||||
26 | and the response thereto, if any, a requester or a public body |
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1 | may furnish affidavits and records concerning any matter | ||||||
2 | germane to the review. | ||||||
3 | (e) Unless the Public Access Counselor extends the time by | ||||||
4 | no more than 21 business days by sending written notice to the | ||||||
5 | requester and public body that includes a statement of the | ||||||
6 | reasons for the extension in the notice, or decides to address | ||||||
7 | the matter without the issuance of a binding opinion, the | ||||||
8 | Attorney General shall examine the issues and the records, | ||||||
9 | shall make findings of fact and conclusions of law, and shall | ||||||
10 | issue to the requester and the public body an opinion within 20 | ||||||
11 | 60 days after initiating review. The opinion shall be binding | ||||||
12 | upon both the requester and the public body, subject to | ||||||
13 | administrative review under Section 7.5 of this Act. | ||||||
14 | In responding to any written request under this Section | ||||||
15 | 3.5, the Attorney General may exercise his or her discretion | ||||||
16 | and choose to resolve a request for review by mediation or by a | ||||||
17 | means other than the issuance of a binding opinion. The | ||||||
18 | decision not to issue a binding opinion shall not be | ||||||
19 | reviewable. | ||||||
20 | Upon receipt of a binding opinion concluding that a | ||||||
21 | violation of this Act has occurred, the public body shall | ||||||
22 | either take necessary action as soon as practical to comply | ||||||
23 | with the directive of the opinion or shall initiate | ||||||
24 | administrative review under Section 7.5. If the opinion | ||||||
25 | concludes that no violation of the Act has occurred, the | ||||||
26 | requester may initiate administrative review under Section |
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1 | 7.5. | ||||||
2 | (f) If the requester files suit under Section 3 with | ||||||
3 | respect to the same alleged violation that is the subject of a | ||||||
4 | pending request for review, the requester shall notify the | ||||||
5 | Public Access Counselor, and the Public Access Counselor shall | ||||||
6 | take no further action with respect to the request for review | ||||||
7 | and shall so notify the public body. | ||||||
8 | (g) Records that are obtained by the Public Access | ||||||
9 | Counselor from a public body for purposes of addressing a | ||||||
10 | request for review under this Section 3.5 may not be disclosed | ||||||
11 | to the public, including the requester, by the Public Access | ||||||
12 | Counselor. Those records, while in the possession of the Public | ||||||
13 | Access Counselor, shall be exempt from disclosure by the Public | ||||||
14 | Access Counselor under the Freedom of Information Act. | ||||||
15 | (h) The Attorney General may also issue advisory opinions | ||||||
16 | to public bodies regarding compliance with this Act. A review | ||||||
17 | may be initiated upon receipt of a written request from the | ||||||
18 | head of the public body or its attorney. The request must | ||||||
19 | contain sufficient accurate facts from which a determination | ||||||
20 | can be made. The Public Access Counselor may request additional | ||||||
21 | information from the public body in order to facilitate the | ||||||
22 | review. A public body that relies in good faith on an advisory | ||||||
23 | opinion of the Attorney General in complying with the | ||||||
24 | requirements of this Act is not liable for penalties under this | ||||||
25 | Act, so long as the facts upon which the opinion is based have | ||||||
26 | been fully and fairly disclosed to the Public Access Counselor.
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1 | (Source: P.A. 99-402, eff. 8-19-15.)
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