Local Government Law

(Burke, D-Oak Lawn; Hutchinson, D-Chicago Heights) creates an exemption from FOIA disclosure for “personally identifiable information” that is exempted under the Toll Highway Act. The exempted information includes any information that identifies or describes an driver such as bank account information, credit card number, telephone number, and address. Passed both chambers.

(Biss, D-Skokie; Schoenberg, D-Evanston) exempts from the Act’s disclosure requirements the names, addresses, and personal information of minors who are participants in the programs of park districts, forest preserve districts, conservation districts, recreation agencies, and special recreation associations. Passed both chambers.

(Burke, D-Oak Lawn; Crotty, D-Oak Forest) changes the compliance date for the Attorney General’s electronic training of elected or appointed members of a public body. If you are a member on Jan. 1, 2012, you must complete the training by Jan. 1, 2013. If you become a member after Jan. 1, 2012, you must complete the training no later than 90 days after you are sworn into office or assume the duties of office. School board members may comply by participating in training sponsored or conducted by an organization under Section 23 of the School Code. Passed both chambers.

(Currie, D-Chicago; Harmon, D-Oak Park) creates separate FOIA guidelines for “recurrent requestors” to be answered within a reasonable period of time considering the size and complexity if the request. “Recurrent requestors” means a person that in the 12 months immediately preceding a request has submitted to the same public body any of the following: (1) a minimum of 50 requests for records; (2) a minimum of 15 requests for records within a 30-day period; or a minimum of seven requests within a seven-day period. News media and non-profit, scientific or academic organizations are exempt if the principal purpose of the request is academic, scientific, or public research or education. Within five business days the public body must notify the requestor that (1) the requestor is being treated as a recurrent requestor and why it is being treated as such; and (2) the requestor will get an initial response within 21 days with the four different authorized responses. Within 21 business days the public body must (1) estimate the time and estimated fees required to comply with the request; (2) deny the request citing the authority to do so; (3) notify the requestor that the request is unduly burdensome and give the requestor an opportunity to reduce it to manageable proportions; or (4) provide the records. A public body may charge a commercial request up to $10 for each hour spent by personnel in searching for and retrieving a requested record, except that no fees may be charged or the first eight hours. If the public records are maintained by contract with a third-party storage company in an off-site storage facility, the public body may charge for the actual cost of retrieving and transporting those public records. A requestor for commercial purposes may not appeal to the Public Access Counselor except for the limited purpose of reviewing whether the public body properly determined that the request was made for a commercial purpose. Passed both chambers.

(Morthland, R-Moline; DIllard, R-Westmont) exempts from FOIA’s disclosure requirements the names and information of people who have applied for or received Firearm Owner’s Identification Cards. Passed both chambers.

(Ramey, R-Carol Stream; Crotty, D-Oak Forest) authorizes a public body to hold a closed meeting to discuss correspondence and records (i) that may not be disclosed under a specific portion of the Public Aid Code or (ii) that pertain to appeals conducted a specific provision of the Public Aid Code. Amends the Freedom of Information Act to exempt those kinds of correspondence and records from the Act's disclosure requirements. Passed both chambers.

(Rita, D-Chicago; Martinez, D-Chicago) authorizes a public body to close a meeting between internal or external auditors and governmental audit committees, finance committees, and their equivalents if the discussion involves internal control weaknesses, identification of potential fraud risk areas, known or suspected frauds, and fraud interviews. Passed both chambers.