Bill Text: IL SB3456 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. Requires that summary reports of investigations be delivered to the Executive Ethics Commission. With respect to all reports of the Office of an Executive Inspector General, removes the requirements that they are confidential, are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, and may not be divulged except to certain persons and agencies (now, these requirements apply to reports other than quarterly reports). Specifies that personal information must be redacted from investigatory reports, including summary reports of investigations, and quarterly reports before the reports are disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-08 - Rule 3-9(a) / Re-referred to Assignments [SB3456 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2009-SB3456-Introduced.html

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96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2009 and 2010 SB3456 Introduced 2/10/2010, by Sen. Bill Brady SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
5 ILCS 430/20-50
5 ILCS 430/20-95
Amends the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. Requires that summary reports of investigations be delivered to the Executive Ethics Commission. With respect to all reports of the Office of an Executive Inspector General, removes the requirements that they are confidential, are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, and may not be divulged except to certain persons and agencies (now, these requirements apply to reports other than quarterly reports). Specifies that personal information must be redacted from investigatory reports, including summary reports of investigations, and quarterly reports before the reports are disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning ethics.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The State Officials and Employees Ethics Act is
amended by changing Sections 20-50 and 20-95 as follows:
(5 ILCS 430/20-50)
Sec. 20-50. Investigation reports.
(a) If an Executive Inspector General, upon the conclusion
of an investigation, determines that reasonable cause exists to
believe that a violation has occurred, then the Executive
Inspector General shall issue a summary report of the
investigation. The report shall be delivered (i) to the
Executive Ethics Commission, (ii) to the appropriate ultimate
jurisdictional authority, and (iii) if appropriate, to the head
of each State agency affected by or involved in the
investigation, if appropriate. The appropriate ultimate
jurisdictional authority or agency head shall respond to the
summary report within 20 days, in writing, to the Executive
Inspector General. The response shall include a description of
any corrective or disciplinary action to be imposed.
(b) The summary report of the investigation shall include
the following:
(1) A description of any allegations or other

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information received by the Executive Inspector General
pertinent to the investigation.
(2) A description of any alleged misconduct discovered
in the course of the investigation.
(3) Recommendations for any corrective or disciplinary
action to be taken in response to any alleged misconduct
described in the report, including but not limited to
discharge.
(4) Other information the Executive Inspector General
deems relevant to the investigation or resulting
recommendations.
(c) Within 30 days after receiving a response from the
appropriate ultimate jurisdictional authority or agency head
under subsection (a), the Executive Inspector General shall
notify the Commission and the Attorney General if the Executive
Inspector General believes that a complaint should be filed
with the Commission. If the Executive Inspector General desires
to file a complaint with the Commission, the Executive
Inspector General shall submit the summary report and
supporting documents to the Attorney General. If the Attorney
General concludes that there is insufficient evidence that a
violation has occurred, the Attorney General shall notify the
Executive Inspector General and the Executive Inspector
General shall deliver to the Executive Ethics Commission a copy
of the summary report and response from the ultimate
jurisdictional authority or agency head. If the Attorney

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General determines that reasonable cause exists to believe that
a violation has occurred, then the Executive Inspector General,
represented by the Attorney General, may file with the
Executive Ethics Commission a complaint. The complaint shall
set forth the alleged violation and the grounds that exist to
support the complaint. The complaint must be filed with the
Commission within 18 months after the most recent act of the
alleged violation or of a series of alleged violations except
where there is reasonable cause to believe that fraudulent
concealment has occurred. To constitute fraudulent concealment
sufficient to toll this limitations period, there must be an
affirmative act or representation calculated to prevent
discovery of the fact that a violation has occurred. If a
complaint is not filed with the Commission within 6 months
after notice by the Inspector General to the Commission and the
Attorney General, then the Commission may set a meeting of the
Commission at which the Attorney General shall appear and
provide a status report to the Commission.
(c-5) Within 30 days after receiving a response from the
appropriate ultimate jurisdictional authority or agency head
under subsection (a), if the Executive Inspector General does
not believe that a complaint should be filed, the Executive
Inspector General shall deliver to the Executive Ethics
Commission a statement setting forth the basis for the decision
not to file a complaint and a copy of the summary report and
response from the ultimate jurisdictional authority or agency

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head. An Inspector General may also submit a redacted version
of the summary report and response from the ultimate
jurisdictional authority if the Inspector General believes
either contains information that, in the opinion of the
Inspector General, should be redacted prior to releasing the
report, may interfere with an ongoing investigation, or
identifies an informant or complainant.
(c-10) If, after reviewing the documents, the Commission
believes that further investigation is warranted, the
Commission may request that the Executive Inspector General
provide additional information or conduct further
investigation. The Commission may also appoint a Special
Executive Inspector General to investigate or refer the summary
report and response from the ultimate jurisdictional authority
to the Attorney General for further investigation or review. If
the Commission requests the Attorney General to investigate or
review, the Commission must notify the Attorney General and the
Inspector General. The Attorney General may not begin an
investigation or review until receipt of notice from the
Commission. If, after review, the Attorney General determines
that reasonable cause exists to believe that a violation has
occurred, then the Attorney General may file a complaint with
the Executive Ethics Commission. If the Attorney General
concludes that there is insufficient evidence that a violation
has occurred, the Attorney General shall notify the Executive
Ethics Commission and the appropriate Executive Inspector

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General.
(d) A copy of the complaint filed with the Executive Ethics
Commission must be served on all respondents named in the
complaint and on each respondent's ultimate jurisdictional
authority in the same manner as process is served under the
Code of Civil Procedure.
(e) A respondent may file objections to the complaint
within 30 days after notice of the petition has been served on
the respondent.
(f) The Commission shall meet, either in person or by
telephone, at least 30 days after the complaint is served on
all respondents in a closed session to review the sufficiency
of the complaint. The Commission shall issue notice by
certified mail, return receipt requested, to the Executive
Inspector General, Attorney General, and all respondents of the
Commission's ruling on the sufficiency of the complaint. If the
complaint is deemed to sufficiently allege a violation of this
Act, then the Commission shall include a hearing date scheduled
within 4 weeks after the date of the notice, unless all of the
parties consent to a later date. If the complaint is deemed not
to sufficiently allege a violation, then the Commission shall
send by certified mail, return receipt requested, a notice to
the Executive Inspector General, Attorney General, and all
respondents of the decision to dismiss the complaint.
(g) On the scheduled date the Commission shall conduct a
closed meeting, either in person or, if the parties consent, by

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telephone, on the complaint and allow all parties the
opportunity to present testimony and evidence. All such
proceedings shall be transcribed.
(h) Within an appropriate time limit set by rules of the
Executive Ethics Commission, the Commission shall (i) dismiss
the complaint, (ii) issue a recommendation of discipline to the
respondent and the respondent's ultimate jurisdictional
authority, (iii) impose an administrative fine upon the
respondent, (iv) issue injunctive relief as described in
Section 50-10, or (v) impose a combination of (ii) through
(iv).
(i) The proceedings on any complaint filed with the
Commission shall be conducted pursuant to rules promulgated by
the Commission.
(j) The Commission may designate hearing officers to
conduct proceedings as determined by rule of the Commission.
(k) In all proceedings before the Commission, the standard
of proof is by a preponderance of the evidence.
(l) Within 30 days after the issuance of a final
administrative decision that concludes that a violation
occurred, the Executive Ethics Commission shall make public the
entire record of proceedings before the Commission, the
decision, any recommendation, any discipline imposed, and the
response from the agency head or ultimate jurisdictional
authority to the Executive Ethics Commission.
(Source: P.A. 96-555, eff. 8-18-09.)

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(5 ILCS 430/20-95)
Sec. 20-95. Exemptions.
(a) Documents generated by an ethics officer under this
Act, except Section 5-50, are exempt from the provisions of the
Freedom of Information Act.
(b) Any allegations and related documents submitted to an
Executive Inspector General and any pleadings and related
documents brought before the Executive Ethics Commission are
exempt from the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act so
long as the Executive Ethics Commission does not make a finding
of a violation of this Act. If the Executive Ethics Commission
finds that a violation has occurred, the entire record of
proceedings before the Commission, the decision and
recommendation, and the response from the agency head or
ultimate jurisdictional authority to the Executive Ethics
Commission are not exempt from the provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act but information contained therein that is
otherwise exempt from the Freedom of Information Act must be
redacted before disclosure as provided in the Freedom of
Information Act. A summary report released by the Executive
Ethics Commission under Section 20-52 is a public record, but
information redacted by the Executive Ethics Commission shall
not be part of the public record.
(c) Meetings of the Commission are exempt from the
provisions of the Open Meetings Act.

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(d) Unless otherwise provided in this Act, all
investigatory files and reports of the Office of an Executive
Inspector General, other than monthly reports required under
Section 20-85, are confidential, are exempt from disclosure
under the Freedom of Information Act, and shall not be divulged
to any person or agency, except as necessary (i) to a law
enforcement authority, (ii) to the ultimate jurisdictional
authority, (iii) to the Executive Ethics Commission; or (iv) to
another Inspector General appointed pursuant to this Act.
Investigatory reports, including summary reports of
investigations, and monthly reports of the Office of an
Executive Inspector General are not exempt from the provisions
of the Freedom of Information Act, but information contained
therein that is otherwise exempt from the Freedom of
Information Act must be redacted before disclosure as provided
in the Freedom of Information Act.
(Source: P.A. 96-555, eff. 8-18-09.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.