104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026 SB2142 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 2035 ILCS 140/3.1 Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that each public body shall, promptly, either comply with or deny a request for public records within 15 business days (rather than 5 business days) after its receipt of the request, unless extended for an additional 10 business days (rather than 5 business days) for specified reasons. Provides that commercial requests must be responded to within 30 business days (rather than 21 working days). LRB104 08960 BDA 19015 b A BILL FOR 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026 SB2142 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 2035 ILCS 140/3.1 5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 203 5 ILCS 140/3.1 Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that each public body shall, promptly, either comply with or deny a request for public records within 15 business days (rather than 5 business days) after its receipt of the request, unless extended for an additional 10 business days (rather than 5 business days) for specified reasons. Provides that commercial requests must be responded to within 30 business days (rather than 21 working days). LRB104 08960 BDA 19015 b LRB104 08960 BDA 19015 b A BILL FOR
104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026 SB2142 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 2035 ILCS 140/3.1 5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 203 5 ILCS 140/3.1
5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 203
5 ILCS 140/3.1
Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that each public body shall, promptly, either comply with or deny a request for public records within 15 business days (rather than 5 business days) after its receipt of the request, unless extended for an additional 10 business days (rather than 5 business days) for specified reasons. Provides that commercial requests must be responded to within 30 business days (rather than 21 working days).
LRB104 08960 BDA 19015 b LRB104 08960 BDA 19015 b
LRB104 08960 BDA 19015 b
A BILL FOR
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SB2142 LRB104 08960 BDA 19015 b
1 AN ACT concerning government.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by
5 changing Sections 3 and 3.1 as follows:
6 (5 ILCS 140/3) (from Ch. 116, par. 203)
7 Sec. 3. (a) Each public body shall make available to any
8 person for inspection or copying all public records, except as
9 otherwise provided in Sections 7 and 8.5 of this Act.
10 Notwithstanding any other law, a public body may not grant to
11 any person or entity, whether by contract, license, or
12 otherwise, the exclusive right to access and disseminate any
13 public record as defined in this Act.
14 (b) Subject to the fee provisions of Section 6 of this Act,
15 each public body shall promptly provide, to any person who
16 submits a request, a copy of any public record required to be
17 disclosed by subsection (a) of this Section and shall certify
18 such copy if so requested.
19 (c) Requests for inspection or copies shall be made in
20 writing and directed to the public body. Written requests may
21 be submitted to a public body via personal delivery, mail,
22 telefax, or other means available to the public body. A public
23 body may honor oral requests for inspection or copying. A
104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026 SB2142 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 2035 ILCS 140/3.1 5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 203 5 ILCS 140/3.1
5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 203
5 ILCS 140/3.1
Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that each public body shall, promptly, either comply with or deny a request for public records within 15 business days (rather than 5 business days) after its receipt of the request, unless extended for an additional 10 business days (rather than 5 business days) for specified reasons. Provides that commercial requests must be responded to within 30 business days (rather than 21 working days).
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LRB104 08960 BDA 19015 b
A BILL FOR
5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 203
5 ILCS 140/3.1
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1 public body may not require that a request be submitted on a
2 standard form or require the requester to specify the purpose
3 for a request, except to determine whether the records are
4 requested for a commercial purpose or whether to grant a
5 request for a fee waiver. All requests for inspection and
6 copying received by a public body shall immediately be
7 forwarded to its Freedom of Information officer or designee.
8 (d) Each public body shall, promptly, either comply with
9 or deny a request for public records within 15 5 business days
10 after its receipt of the request, unless the time for response
11 is properly extended under subsection (e) of this Section.
12 Denial shall be in writing as provided in Section 9 of this
13 Act. Failure to comply with a written request, extend the time
14 for response, or deny a request within 5 business days after
15 its receipt shall be considered a denial of the request. A
16 public body that fails to respond to a request within the
17 requisite periods in this Section but thereafter provides the
18 requester with copies of the requested public records may not
19 impose a fee for such copies. A public body that fails to
20 respond to a request received may not treat the request as
21 unduly burdensome under subsection (g).
22 (e) The time for response under this Section may be
23 extended by the public body for not more than 10 5 business
24 days from the original due date for any of the following
25 reasons:
26 (i) the requested records are stored in whole or in
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1 part at other locations than the office having charge of
2 the requested records;
3 (ii) the request requires the collection of a
4 substantial number of specified records;
5 (iii) the request is couched in categorical terms and
6 requires an extensive search for the records responsive to
7 it;
8 (iv) the requested records have not been located in
9 the course of routine search and additional efforts are
10 being made to locate them;
11 (v) the requested records require examination and
12 evaluation by personnel having the necessary competence
13 and discretion to determine if they are exempt from
14 disclosure under Section 7 of this Act or should be
15 revealed only with appropriate deletions;
16 (vi) the request for records cannot be complied with
17 by the public body within the time limits prescribed by
18 subsection (d) of this Section without unduly burdening or
19 interfering with the operations of the public body;
20 (vii) there is a need for consultation, which shall be
21 conducted with all practicable speed, with another public
22 body or among 2 or more components of a public body having
23 a substantial interest in the determination or in the
24 subject matter of the request.
25 The person making a request and the public body may agree
26 in writing to extend the time for compliance for a period to be
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1 determined by the parties. If the requester and the public
2 body agree to extend the period for compliance, a failure by
3 the public body to comply with any previous deadlines shall
4 not be treated as a denial of the request for the records.
5 (f) When additional time is required for any of the above
6 reasons, the public body shall, within 15 5 business days
7 after receipt of the request, notify the person making the
8 request of the reasons for the extension and the date by which
9 the response will be forthcoming. Failure to respond within
10 the time permitted for extension shall be considered a denial
11 of the request. A public body that fails to respond to a
12 request within the time permitted for extension but thereafter
13 provides the requester with copies of the requested public
14 records may not impose a fee for those copies. A public body
15 that requests an extension and subsequently fails to respond
16 to the request may not treat the request as unduly burdensome
17 under subsection (g).
18 (g) Requests calling for all records falling within a
19 category shall be complied with unless compliance with the
20 request would be unduly burdensome for the complying public
21 body and there is no way to narrow the request and the burden
22 on the public body outweighs the public interest in the
23 information. Before invoking this exemption, the public body
24 shall extend to the person making the request an opportunity
25 to confer with it in an attempt to reduce the request to
26 manageable proportions. If any public body responds to a
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1 categorical request by stating that compliance would unduly
2 burden its operation and the conditions described above are
3 met, it shall do so in writing, specifying the reasons why it
4 would be unduly burdensome and the extent to which compliance
5 will so burden the operations of the public body. Such a
6 response shall be treated as a denial of the request for
7 information.
8 Repeated requests from the same person for the same
9 records that are unchanged or identical to records previously
10 provided or properly denied under this Act shall be deemed
11 unduly burdensome under this provision.
12 (h) Each public body may promulgate rules and regulations
13 in conformity with the provisions of this Section pertaining
14 to the availability of records and procedures to be followed,
15 including:
16 (i) the times and places where such records will be
17 made available, and
18 (ii) the persons from whom such records may be
19 obtained.
20 (i) The time periods for compliance or denial of a request
21 to inspect or copy records set out in this Section shall not
22 apply to requests for records made for a commercial purpose,
23 requests by a recurrent requester, or voluminous requests.
24 Such requests shall be subject to the provisions of Sections
25 3.1, 3.2, and 3.6 of this Act, as applicable.
26 (Source: P.A. 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)
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