Illinois-2017-SB1263-Introduced

100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2017 and 2018 SB1263

Introduced 2/9/2017, by Sen. Michael Connelly

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

5 ILCS 120/2.06 from Ch. 102, par. 42.06

Amends the Open Meetings Act. Specifies that at each regular or special meeting which is open to the public, any person shall have the opportunity to address public officials with comments or questions, subject to reasonable constraints. Provides that any answers to questions asked during the open meeting shall be provided by the public body within a reasonable amount of time not to exceed 45 days.

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A BILL FOR

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1 AN ACT concerning State government.

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

3 represented in the General Assembly:

4 Section 5. The Open Meetings Act is amended by changing

5 Section 2.06 as follows:

6 (5 ILCS 120/2.06) (from Ch. 102, par. 42.06)

7 Sec. 2.06. Minutes; right to speak.

8 (a) All public bodies shall keep written minutes of all

9 their meetings, whether open or closed, and a verbatim record

10 of all their closed meetings in the form of an audio or video

11 recording. Minutes shall include, but need not be limited to:

12 (1) the date, time and place of the meeting;

13 (2) the members of the public body recorded as either

14 present or absent and whether the members were physically

15 present or present by means of video or audio conference;

16 and

17 (3) a summary of discussion on all matters proposed,

18 deliberated, or decided, and a record of any votes taken.

19 (b) A public body shall approve the minutes of its open

20 meeting within 30 days after that meeting or at the public

21 body's second subsequent regular meeting, whichever is later.

22 The minutes of meetings open to the public shall be available

23 for public inspection within 10 days after the approval of such

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1 minutes by the public body. Beginning July 1, 2006, at the time

2 it complies with the other requirements of this subsection, a

3 public body that has a website that the full-time staff of the

4 public body maintains shall post the minutes of a regular

5 meeting of its governing body open to the public on the public

6 body's website within 10 days after the approval of the minutes

7 by the public body. Beginning July 1, 2006, any minutes of

8 meetings open to the public posted on the public body's website

9 shall remain posted on the website for at least 60 days after

10 their initial posting.

11 (c) The verbatim record may be destroyed without

12 notification to or the approval of a records commission or the

13 State Archivist under the Local Records Act or the State

14 Records Act no less than 18 months after the completion of the

15 meeting recorded but only after:

16 (1) the public body approves the destruction of a

17 particular recording; and

18 (2) the public body approves minutes of the closed

19 meeting that meet the written minutes requirements of

20 subsection (a) of this Section.

21 (d) Each public body shall periodically, but no less than

22 semi-annually, meet to review minutes of all closed meetings.

23 At such meetings a determination shall be made, and reported in

24 an open session that (1) the need for confidentiality still

25 exists as to all or part of those minutes or (2) that the

26 minutes or portions thereof no longer require confidential

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1 treatment and are available for public inspection. The failure

2 of a public body to strictly comply with the semi-annual review

3 of closed session written minutes, whether before or after the

4 effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General

5 Assembly, shall not cause the written minutes or related

6 verbatim record to become public or available for inspection in

7 any judicial proceeding, other than a proceeding involving an

8 alleged violation of this Act, if the public body, within 60

9 days of discovering its failure to strictly comply with the

10 technical requirements of this subsection, reviews the closed

11 session minutes and determines and thereafter reports in open

12 session that either (1) the need for confidentiality still

13 exists as to all or part of the minutes or verbatim record, or

14 (2) that the minutes or recordings or portions thereof no

15 longer require confidential treatment and are available for

16 public inspection.

17 (e) Unless the public body has made a determination that

18 the verbatim recording no longer requires confidential

19 treatment or otherwise consents to disclosure, the verbatim

20 record of a meeting closed to the public shall not be open for

21 public inspection or subject to discovery in any administrative

22 or judicial proceeding other than one brought to enforce this

23 Act. In the case of a civil action brought to enforce this Act,

24 the court, if the judge believes such an examination is

25 necessary, must conduct such in camera examination of the

26 verbatim record as it finds appropriate in order to determine

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1 whether there has been a violation of this Act. In the case of

2 a criminal proceeding, the court may conduct an examination in

3 order to determine what portions, if any, must be made

4 available to the parties for use as evidence in the

5 prosecution. Any such initial inspection must be held in

6 camera. If the court determines that a complaint or suit

7 brought for noncompliance under this Act is valid it may, for

8 the purposes of discovery, redact from the minutes of the

9 meeting closed to the public any information deemed to qualify

10 under the attorney-client privilege. The provisions of this

11 subsection do not supersede the privacy or confidentiality

12 provisions of State or federal law. Access to verbatim

13 recordings shall be provided to duly elected officials or

14 appointed officials filling a vacancy of an elected office in a

15 public body, and access shall be granted in the public body's

16 main office or official storage location, in the presence of a

17 records secretary, an administrative official of the public

18 body, or any elected official of the public body. No verbatim

19 recordings shall be recorded or removed from the public body's

20 main office or official storage location, except by vote of the

21 public body or by court order. Nothing in this subsection (e)

22 is intended to limit the Public Access Counselor's access to

23 those records necessary to address a request for administrative

24 review under Section 7.5 of this Act.

25 (f) Minutes of meetings closed to the public shall be

26 available only after the public body determines that it is no

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1 longer necessary to protect the public interest or the privacy

2 of an individual by keeping them confidential, except that duly

3 elected officials or appointed officials filling a vacancy of

4 an elected office in a public body shall be provided access to

5 minutes of meetings closed to the public. Access to minutes

6 shall be granted in the public body's main office or official

7 storage location, in the presence of a records secretary, an

8 administrative official of the public body, or any elected

9 official of the public body. No minutes of meetings closed to

10 the public shall be removed from the public body's main office

11 or official storage location, except by vote of the public body

12 or by court order. Nothing in this subsection (f) is intended

13 to limit the Public Access Counselor's access to those records

14 necessary to address a request for administrative review under

15 Section 7.5 of this Act.

16 (g) At each regular or special meeting which is open to the

17 public, any ~~Any~~ person shall be permitted an opportunity to

18 address public officials with comments or questions, subject to

19 reasonable constraints, under the rules established and

20 recorded by the public body. Answers to the questions asked

21 during the meeting shall be provided by the public body within

22 a reasonable amount of time not to exceed 45 days.

23 (Source: P.A. 99-515, eff. 6-30-16.)