Bill Text: IL SB3562 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Open Meetings Act. Provides that each public body shall periodically (currently, specifies no less than semi-annually) meet to review minutes of all closed meetings. Provides that meetings to review minutes shall occur every 6 months, or as soon thereafter as is practicable, taking into account the nature and meeting schedule of the public body. Provides that committees which are ad hoc in nature shall review closed session minutes at the later of (1) 6 months from the date of the last review of closed session minutes or (2) at the next scheduled meeting of the ad hoc committee. Provides that when a public body is dissolved, disbanded, eliminated, or consolidated by executive action, legislative action, or referendum, the governing body of the unit of local government in which the public body was located shall review the closed session minutes of that public body.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2021-01-13 - Session Sine Die [SB3562 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-SB3562-Introduced.html

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101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 SB3562 Introduced 2/13/2020, by Sen. John F. Curran SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
5 ILCS 120/2.06 from Ch. 102, par. 42.06
Amends the Open Meetings Act. Provides that each public body shall periodically (currently, specifies no less than semi-annually) meet to review minutes of all closed meetings. Provides that meetings to review minutes shall occur every 6 months, or as soon thereafter as is practicable, taking into account the nature and meeting schedule of the public body. Provides that committees which are ad hoc in nature shall review closed session minutes at the later of (1) 6 months from the date of the last review of closed session minutes or (2) at the next scheduled meeting of the ad hoc committee. Provides that when a public body is dissolved, disbanded, eliminated, or consolidated by executive action, legislative action, or referendum, the governing body of the unit of local government in which the public body was located shall review the closed session minutes of that 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 Open Meetings Act is amended by changing
Section 2.06 as follows:
(5 ILCS 120/2.06) (from Ch. 102, par. 42.06)
Sec. 2.06. Minutes; right to speak.
(a) All public bodies shall keep written minutes of all
their meetings, whether open or closed, and a verbatim record
of all their closed meetings in the form of an audio or video
recording. Minutes shall include, but need not be limited to:
(1) the date, time and place of the meeting;
(2) the members of the public body recorded as either
present or absent and whether the members were physically
present or present by means of video or audio conference;
and
(3) a summary of discussion on all matters proposed,
deliberated, or decided, and a record of any votes taken.
(b) A public body shall approve the minutes of its open
meeting within 30 days after that meeting or at the public
body's second subsequent regular meeting, whichever is later.
The minutes of meetings open to the public shall be available
for public inspection within 10 days after the approval of such

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minutes by the public body. Beginning July 1, 2006, at the time
it complies with the other requirements of this subsection, a
public body that has a website that the full-time staff of the
public body maintains shall post the minutes of a regular
meeting of its governing body open to the public on the public
body's website within 10 days after the approval of the minutes
by the public body. Beginning July 1, 2006, any minutes of
meetings open to the public posted on the public body's website
shall remain posted on the website for at least 60 days after
their initial posting.
(c) The verbatim record may be destroyed without
notification to or the approval of a records commission or the
State Archivist under the Local Records Act or the State
Records Act no less than 18 months after the completion of the
meeting recorded but only after:
(1) the public body approves the destruction of a
particular recording; and
(2) the public body approves minutes of the closed
meeting that meet the written minutes requirements of
subsection (a) of this Section.
(d) Each public body shall periodically, but no less than
semi-annually, meet to review minutes of all closed meetings.
Meetings to review minutes shall occur every 6 months, or as
soon thereafter as is practicable, taking into account the
nature and meeting schedule of the public body. Committees
which are ad hoc in nature shall review closed session minutes

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at the later of (1) 6 months from the date of the last review of
closed session minutes or (2) at the next scheduled meeting of
the ad hoc committee. At such meetings a determination shall be
made, and reported in an open session that (1) the need for
confidentiality still exists as to all or part of those minutes
or (2) that the minutes or portions thereof no longer require
confidential treatment and are available for public
inspection. The failure of a public body to strictly comply
with the semi-annual review of closed session written minutes,
whether before or after the effective date of this amendatory
Act of the 94th General Assembly, shall not cause the written
minutes or related verbatim record to become public or
available for inspection in any judicial proceeding, other than
a proceeding involving an alleged violation of this Act, if the
public body, within 60 days of discovering its failure to
strictly comply with the technical requirements of this
subsection, reviews the closed session minutes and determines
and thereafter reports in open session that either (1) the need
for confidentiality still exists as to all or part of the
minutes or verbatim record, or (2) that the minutes or
recordings or portions thereof no longer require confidential
treatment and are available for public inspection.
(e) Unless the public body has made a determination that
the verbatim recording no longer requires confidential
treatment or otherwise consents to disclosure, the verbatim
record of a meeting closed to the public shall not be open for

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public inspection or subject to discovery in any administrative
or judicial proceeding other than one brought to enforce this
Act. In the case of a civil action brought to enforce this Act,
the court, if the judge believes such an examination is
necessary, must conduct such in camera examination of the
verbatim record as it finds appropriate in order to determine
whether there has been a violation of this Act. In the case of
a criminal proceeding, the court may conduct an examination in
order to determine what portions, if any, must be made
available to the parties for use as evidence in the
prosecution. Any such initial inspection must be held in
camera. If the court determines that a complaint or suit
brought for noncompliance under this Act is valid it may, for
the purposes of discovery, redact from the minutes of the
meeting closed to the public any information deemed to qualify
under the attorney-client privilege. The provisions of this
subsection do not supersede the privacy or confidentiality
provisions of State or federal law. Access to verbatim
recordings shall be provided to duly elected officials or
appointed officials filling a vacancy of an elected office in a
public body, and access shall be granted in the public body's
main office or official storage location, in the presence of a
records secretary, an administrative official of the public
body, or any elected official of the public body. No verbatim
recordings shall be recorded or removed from the public body's
main office or official storage location, except by vote of the

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public body or by court order. Nothing in this subsection (e)
is intended to limit the Public Access Counselor's access to
those records necessary to address a request for administrative
review under Section 7.5 of this Act.
(f) Minutes of meetings closed to the public shall be
available only after the public body determines that it is no
longer necessary to protect the public interest or the privacy
of an individual by keeping them confidential, except that duly
elected officials or appointed officials filling a vacancy of
an elected office in a public body shall be provided access to
minutes of meetings closed to the public. Access to minutes
shall be granted in the public body's main office or official
storage location, in the presence of a records secretary, an
administrative official of the public body, or any elected
official of the public body. No minutes of meetings closed to
the public shall be removed from the public body's main office
or official storage location, except by vote of the public body
or by court order. Nothing in this subsection (f) is intended
to limit the Public Access Counselor's access to those records
necessary to address a request for administrative review under
Section 7.5 of this Act.
(g) Any person shall be permitted an opportunity to address
public officials under the rules established and recorded by
the public body.
(h) When a public body is dissolved, disbanded, eliminated,
or consolidated by executive action, legislative action, or

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referendum, the governing body of the unit of local government
in which the public body was located shall review the closed
session minutes of that public body.
(Source: P.A. 99-515, eff. 6-30-16.)