Bill Text: IL SB3118 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Defines "public body official" as an elected or appointed officeholder of a public body. Provides that "public body official" does not include a private attorney or law firm appointed to represent the public body. Provides that a public body's Freedom of Information officer must be a public body official or employee of the public body.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-02 - Referred to Assignments [SB3118 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB3118-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 SB3118 Introduced 2/2/2024, by Sen. Craig Wilcox SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
5 ILCS 140/2 from Ch. 116, par. 202
5 ILCS 140/3.5
Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Defines "public body official" as an elected or appointed officeholder of a public body. Provides that "public body official" does not include a private attorney or law firm appointed to represent the public body. Provides that a public body's Freedom of Information officer must be a public body official or employee of the public body.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by
changing Sections 2 and 3.5 as follows:
(5 ILCS 140/2) (from Ch. 116, par. 202)
Sec. 2. Definitions. As used in this Act:
(a) "Public body" means all legislative, executive,
administrative, or advisory bodies of the State, state
universities and colleges, counties, townships, cities,
villages, incorporated towns, school districts and all other
municipal corporations, boards, bureaus, committees, or
commissions of this State, any subsidiary bodies of any of the
foregoing including but not limited to committees and
subcommittees thereof, and a School Finance Authority created
under Article 1E of the School Code. "Public body" does not
include a child death review team or the Illinois Child Death
Review Teams Executive Council established under the Child
Death Review Team Act, or a regional youth advisory board or
the Statewide Youth Advisory Board established under the
Department of Children and Family Services Statewide Youth
Advisory Board Act.
(a-5) "Public body official" means an elected or appointed

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officeholder of a public body. "Public body official" does not
include a private attorney or law firm appointed to represent
the public body.
(b) "Person" means any individual, corporation,
partnership, firm, organization or association, acting
individually or as a group.
(c) "Public records" means all records, reports, forms,
writings, letters, memoranda, books, papers, maps,
photographs, microfilms, cards, tapes, recordings, electronic
data processing records, electronic communications, recorded
information and all other documentary materials pertaining to
the transaction of public business, regardless of physical
form or characteristics, having been prepared by or for, or
having been or being used by, received by, in the possession
of, or under the control of any public body.
(c-5) "Private information" means unique identifiers,
including a person's social security number, driver's license
number, employee identification number, biometric identifiers,
personal financial information, passwords or other access
codes, medical records, home or personal telephone numbers,
and personal email addresses. Private information also
includes home address and personal license plates, except as
otherwise provided by law or when compiled without possibility
of attribution to any person. For a public body that is a
HIPAA-covered entity, "private information" includes
electronic medical records and all information, including

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demographic information, contained within or extracted from an
electronic medical records system operated or maintained by
the public body in compliance with State and federal medical
privacy laws and regulations, including, but not limited to,
the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and
its regulations, 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164. As used in this
subsection, "HIPAA-covered entity" has the meaning given to
the term "covered entity" in 45 CFR 160.103.
(c-10) "Commercial purpose" means the use of any part of a
public record or records, or information derived from public
records, in any form for sale, resale, or solicitation or
advertisement for sales or services. For purposes of this
definition, requests made by news media and non-profit,
scientific, or academic organizations shall not be considered
to be made for a "commercial purpose" when the principal
purpose of the request is (i) to access and disseminate
information concerning news and current or passing events,
(ii) for articles of opinion or features of interest to the
public, or (iii) for the purpose of academic, scientific, or
public research or education.
(d) "Copying" means the reproduction of any public record
by means of any photographic, electronic, mechanical or other
process, device or means now known or hereafter developed and
available to the public body.
(e) "Head of the public body" means the president, mayor,
chairman, presiding officer, director, superintendent,

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manager, supervisor or individual otherwise holding primary
executive and administrative authority for the public body, or
such person's duly authorized designee.
(f) "News media" means a newspaper or other periodical
issued at regular intervals whether in print or electronic
format, a news service whether in print or electronic format,
a radio station, a television station, a television network, a
community antenna television service, or a person or
corporation engaged in making news reels or other motion
picture news for public showing.
(g) "Recurrent requester", as used in Section 3.2 of this
Act, means a person that, in the 12 months immediately
preceding the request, has submitted to the same public body
(i) a minimum of 50 requests for records, (ii) a minimum of 15
requests for records within a 30-day period, or (iii) a
minimum of 7 requests for records within a 7-day period. For
purposes of this definition, requests made by news media and
non-profit, scientific, or academic organizations shall not be
considered in calculating the number of requests made in the
time periods in this definition when the principal purpose of
the requests is (i) to access and disseminate information
concerning news and current or passing events, (ii) for
articles of opinion or features of interest to the public, or
(iii) for the purpose of academic, scientific, or public
research or education.
For the purposes of this subsection (g), "request" means a

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written document (or oral request, if the public body chooses
to honor oral requests) that is submitted to a public body via
personal delivery, mail, telefax, electronic mail, or other
means available to the public body and that identifies the
particular public record the requester seeks. One request may
identify multiple records to be inspected or copied.
(h) "Voluminous request" means a request that: (i)
includes more than 5 individual requests for more than 5
different categories of records or a combination of individual
requests that total requests for more than 5 different
categories of records in a period of 20 business days; or (ii)
requires the compilation of more than 500 letter or
legal-sized pages of public records unless a single requested
record exceeds 500 pages. "Single requested record" may
include, but is not limited to, one report, form, e-mail,
letter, memorandum, book, map, microfilm, tape, or recording.
"Voluminous request" does not include a request made by
news media and non-profit, scientific, or academic
organizations if the principal purpose of the request is: (1)
to access and disseminate information concerning news and
current or passing events; (2) for articles of opinion or
features of interest to the public; or (3) for the purpose of
academic, scientific, or public research or education.
For the purposes of this subsection (h), "request" means a
written document, or oral request, if the public body chooses
to honor oral requests, that is submitted to a public body via

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personal delivery, mail, telefax, electronic mail, or other
means available to the public body and that identifies the
particular public record or records the requester seeks. One
request may identify multiple individual records to be
inspected or copied.
(i) "Severance agreement" means a mutual agreement between
any public body and its employee for the employee's
resignation in exchange for payment by the public body.
(Source: P.A. 103-554, eff. 1-1-24.)
(5 ILCS 140/3.5)
Sec. 3.5. Freedom of Information officers.
(a) Each public body shall designate one or more public
body officials or employees to act as its Freedom of
Information officer or officers. Except in instances when
records are furnished immediately, Freedom of Information
officers, or their designees, shall receive requests submitted
to the public body under this Act, ensure that the public body
responds to requests in a timely fashion, and issue responses
under this Act. Freedom of Information officers shall develop
a list of documents or categories of records that the public
body shall immediately disclose upon request.
Upon receiving a request for a public record, the Freedom
of Information officer shall:
(1) note the date the public body receives the written
request;

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