Illinois 2025-2026 Regular Session

Illinois House Bill HB2334 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB2334 Introduced , by Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 203 Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that electronic requests for public records must appear in their entirety within the body of the electronic submission and that no public body shall be required to open electronically attached files or hyperlinks to view or access the details of such a request. Effective immediately. LRB104 07707 BDA 17752 b A BILL FOR 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB2334 Introduced , by Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 203 5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 203 Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that electronic requests for public records must appear in their entirety within the body of the electronic submission and that no public body shall be required to open electronically attached files or hyperlinks to view or access the details of such a request. Effective immediately. LRB104 07707 BDA 17752 b LRB104 07707 BDA 17752 b A BILL FOR
2	2	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB2334 Introduced , by Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
3	3	5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 203 5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 203
4	4	5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 203
5	5	Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that electronic requests for public records must appear in their entirety within the body of the electronic submission and that no public body shall be required to open electronically attached files or hyperlinks to view or access the details of such a request. Effective immediately.
6	6	LRB104 07707 BDA 17752 b LRB104 07707 BDA 17752 b
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8	8	A BILL FOR
9	9	HB2334LRB104 07707 BDA 17752 b HB2334 LRB104 07707 BDA 17752 b
10	10	HB2334 LRB104 07707 BDA 17752 b
11	11	1 AN ACT concerning government.
12	12	2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
13	13	3 represented in the General Assembly:
14	14	4 Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by
15	15	5 changing Section 3 as follows:
16	16	6 (5 ILCS 140/3) (from Ch. 116, par. 203)
17	17	7 Sec. 3. (a) Each public body shall make available to any
18	18	8 person for inspection or copying all public records, except as
19	19	9 otherwise provided in Sections 7 and 8.5 of this Act.
20	20	10 Notwithstanding any other law, a public body may not grant to
21	21	11 any person or entity, whether by contract, license, or
22	22	12 otherwise, the exclusive right to access and disseminate any
23	23	13 public record as defined in this Act.
24	24	14 (b) Subject to the fee provisions of Section 6 of this Act,
25	25	15 each public body shall promptly provide, to any person who
26	26	16 submits a request, a copy of any public record required to be
27	27	17 disclosed by subsection (a) of this Section and shall certify
28	28	18 such copy if so requested.
29	29	19 (c) Requests for inspection or copies shall be made in
30	30	20 writing and directed to the public body. Written requests may
31	31	21 be submitted to a public body via personal delivery, mail,
32	32	22 telefax, or other means available to the public body.
33	33	23 Electronic requests under this Section must appear in their
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37	37	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB2334 Introduced , by Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
38	38	5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 203 5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 203
39	39	5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 203
40	40	Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that electronic requests for public records must appear in their entirety within the body of the electronic submission and that no public body shall be required to open electronically attached files or hyperlinks to view or access the details of such a request. Effective immediately.
41	41	LRB104 07707 BDA 17752 b LRB104 07707 BDA 17752 b
42	42	LRB104 07707 BDA 17752 b
43	43	A BILL FOR
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49	49	5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 203
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68	68	1 entirety within the body of the electronic submission. As a
69	69	2 cybersecurity measure, no public body shall be required to
70	70	3 open electronically attached files or hyperlinks to view or
71	71	4 access details of a request. A public body may honor oral
72	72	5 requests for inspection or copying. A public body may not
73	73	6 require that a request be submitted on a standard form or
74	74	7 require the requester to specify the purpose for a request,
75	75	8 except to determine whether the records are requested for a
76	76	9 commercial purpose or whether to grant a request for a fee
77	77	10 waiver. All requests for inspection and copying received by a
78	78	11 public body shall immediately be forwarded to its Freedom of
79	79	12 Information officer or designee.
80	80	13 (d) Each public body shall, promptly, either comply with
81	81	14 or deny a request for public records within 5 business days
82	82	15 after its receipt of the request, unless the time for response
83	83	16 is properly extended under subsection (e) of this Section.
84	84	17 Denial shall be in writing as provided in Section 9 of this
85	85	18 Act. Failure to comply with a written request, extend the time
86	86	19 for response, or deny a request within 5 business days after
87	87	20 its receipt shall be considered a denial of the request. A
88	88	21 public body that fails to respond to a request within the
89	89	22 requisite periods in this Section but thereafter provides the
90	90	23 requester with copies of the requested public records may not
91	91	24 impose a fee for such copies. A public body that fails to
92	92	25 respond to a request received may not treat the request as
93	93	26 unduly burdensome under subsection (g).
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104	104	1 (e) The time for response under this Section may be
105	105	2 extended by the public body for not more than 5 business days
106	106	3 from the original due date for any of the following reasons:
107	107	4 (i) the requested records are stored in whole or in
108	108	5 part at other locations than the office having charge of
109	109	6 the requested records;
110	110	7 (ii) the request requires the collection of a
111	111	8 substantial number of specified records;
112	112	9 (iii) the request is couched in categorical terms and
113	113	10 requires an extensive search for the records responsive to
114	114	11 it;
115	115	12 (iv) the requested records have not been located in
116	116	13 the course of routine search and additional efforts are
117	117	14 being made to locate them;
118	118	15 (v) the requested records require examination and
119	119	16 evaluation by personnel having the necessary competence
120	120	17 and discretion to determine if they are exempt from
121	121	18 disclosure under Section 7 of this Act or should be
122	122	19 revealed only with appropriate deletions;
123	123	20 (vi) the request for records cannot be complied with
124	124	21 by the public body within the time limits prescribed by
125	125	22 subsection (d) of this Section without unduly burdening or
126	126	23 interfering with the operations of the public body;
127	127	24 (vii) there is a need for consultation, which shall be
128	128	25 conducted with all practicable speed, with another public
129	129	26 body or among 2 or more components of a public body having
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140	140	1 a substantial interest in the determination or in the
141	141	2 subject matter of the request.
142	142	3 The person making a request and the public body may agree
143	143	4 in writing to extend the time for compliance for a period to be
144	144	5 determined by the parties. If the requester and the public
145	145	6 body agree to extend the period for compliance, a failure by
146	146	7 the public body to comply with any previous deadlines shall
147	147	8 not be treated as a denial of the request for the records.
148	148	9 (f) When additional time is required for any of the above
149	149	10 reasons, the public body shall, within 5 business days after
150	150	11 receipt of the request, notify the person making the request
151	151	12 of the reasons for the extension and the date by which the
152	152	13 response will be forthcoming. Failure to respond within the
153	153	14 time permitted for extension shall be considered a denial of
154	154	15 the request. A public body that fails to respond to a request
155	155	16 within the time permitted for extension but thereafter
156	156	17 provides the requester with copies of the requested public
157	157	18 records may not impose a fee for those copies. A public body
158	158	19 that requests an extension and subsequently fails to respond
159	159	20 to the request may not treat the request as unduly burdensome
160	160	21 under subsection (g).
161	161	22 (g) Requests calling for all records falling within a
162	162	23 category shall be complied with unless compliance with the
163	163	24 request would be unduly burdensome for the complying public
164	164	25 body and there is no way to narrow the request and the burden
165	165	26 on the public body outweighs the public interest in the
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176	176	1 information. Before invoking this exemption, the public body
177	177	2 shall extend to the person making the request an opportunity
178	178	3 to confer with it in an attempt to reduce the request to
179	179	4 manageable proportions. If any public body responds to a
180	180	5 categorical request by stating that compliance would unduly
181	181	6 burden its operation and the conditions described above are
182	182	7 met, it shall do so in writing, specifying the reasons why it
183	183	8 would be unduly burdensome and the extent to which compliance
184	184	9 will so burden the operations of the public body. Such a
185	185	10 response shall be treated as a denial of the request for
186	186	11 information.
187	187	12 Repeated requests from the same person for the same
188	188	13 records that are unchanged or identical to records previously
189	189	14 provided or properly denied under this Act shall be deemed
190	190	15 unduly burdensome under this provision.
191	191	16 (h) Each public body may promulgate rules and regulations
192	192	17 in conformity with the provisions of this Section pertaining
193	193	18 to the availability of records and procedures to be followed,
194	194	19 including:
195	195	20 (i) the times and places where such records will be
196	196	21 made available, and
197	197	22 (ii) the persons from whom such records may be
198	198	23 obtained.
199	199	24 (i) The time periods for compliance or denial of a request
200	200	25 to inspect or copy records set out in this Section shall not
201	201	26 apply to requests for records made for a commercial purpose,
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212	212	1 requests by a recurrent requester, or voluminous requests.
213	213	2 Such requests shall be subject to the provisions of Sections
214	214	3 3.1, 3.2, and 3.6 of this Act, as applicable.
215	215	4 (Source: P.A. 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)
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