Illinois Open Meetings Act
From Sunshine Review
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Which government meetings are open to the public? All meetings, whether in person or by video or audio conference, telephone call, electronic means of any sort, where public bodies discuss of act on business in any way are open to the public except when the General Assembly determines the meeting closed.[1]
[edit] Meeting process
Public body meetings that are open to the public may conduct business and take action. For a five member public body, three members of the body will adopt any motion, resolution, or ordinance, unless a greater number is otherwise required.
Minutes
All meetings must be recorded with either audio, visual or still technology. Minutes should be kept for at least 18 months following the meeting.
Notice
Public bodies need to post a schedule, the dates, the times and the places for regular meetings at the beginning of each fiscal year. In preparation for any public meeting, the public body must post the agenda, with the date, time and place, in the building and office of the public body 48 hours in advance. If there is a website and sufficient staff to change the website, the agenda must be put on it as well.
The only exception to the 48 hour rule is in the event of an emergency where a meeting needs to be called, but all practical efforts must be made to provide notice to the public as early as possible. If a meeting is reconvened within 24 hours of the initial meeting, an announcement about the reconvening was made at the first meeting, and there is no change in the agenda, the public body does not have to abide by the 48 hour rule.
As long as these rules are followed and the news media claims they were not informed, the meeting cannot be invalidated.[1]
[edit] Exceptions
No final action may be taken at a closed meeting. A public body can hold closed meetings for the following reasons:
- The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity.
- Negotiating matters such as salary, the buying or selling of public land, the buying or selling of security or investment contracts, anything related to individual students that would harm if publicly disclosed, selection of a person to fill a vacancy in a public office when the body has that power, sensitive evidence from a pending case, matters related to the Prisoner Review Board, informant sources, deliberations of the State Emergency Medical Services Disciplinary Review Board, complaints of discrimination, discussing electricity or natural gas contracts, and security procedures.
- Sensitive material related to pending litigation
- The establishment of reserves or settlement of claims if it would prejudiced if publicly disclosed.
- Professional ethics or performance when considered by an advisory body appointed to advise a licensing or regulatory agency on matters germane to the advisory body's field of competence.
- Self evaluation when a statewide entity is present.
- The recruitment, credentialing, discipline or formal peer review of physicians or other health care professionals for a hospital, or other institution providing medical care, that is operated by the public body.
- Discussion of confidential matters, of meeting minutes for approval by the body or semi‑annual review, and of applications received under the Experimental Organ Transplantation Procedures Act.
- Meetings where a team would be determining assault or wrongful death at a residential health care facility.[1]
[edit] If violated
Anyone may bring a civil action against a violator within 60 days of the meeting, if possible, and the circuit court will hear it.[1]
[edit] Relevant legal cases
- See also: Court cases with an impact on state FOIA
Here is a list of open meetings lawsuits in Illinois. For more information go the page or go to Illinois sunshine lawsuits.
(The cases are listed alphabetically. To order them by year please click the icon to the right of the Year heading)
We do not currently have any pages on litigation in Illinois. To add some see our Sunshine litigation project page.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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