Illinois 2025-2026 Regular Session

Illinois Senate Bill SB2167 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB2167 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 5 ILCS 140/6 from Ch. 116, par. 206 Amends the Freedom of Information Act. In provisions regarding the authority to charge fees and the imposition of a fee for a voluminous request, removes requirements for an accounting of all personnel hours in connection with the request for public records. LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b A BILL FOR 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB2167 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 5 ILCS 140/6 from Ch. 116, par. 206 5 ILCS 140/6 from Ch. 116, par. 206 Amends the Freedom of Information Act. In provisions regarding the authority to charge fees and the imposition of a fee for a voluminous request, removes requirements for an accounting of all personnel hours in connection with the request for public records. LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b A BILL FOR
2	2	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB2167 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
3	3	5 ILCS 140/6 from Ch. 116, par. 206 5 ILCS 140/6 from Ch. 116, par. 206
4	4	5 ILCS 140/6 from Ch. 116, par. 206
5	5	Amends the Freedom of Information Act. In provisions regarding the authority to charge fees and the imposition of a fee for a voluminous request, removes requirements for an accounting of all personnel hours in connection with the request for public records.
6	6	LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b
7	7	LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b
8	8	A BILL FOR
9	9	SB2167LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b SB2167 LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b
10	10	SB2167 LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 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 6 as follows:
16	16	6 (5 ILCS 140/6) (from Ch. 116, par. 206)
17	17	7 Sec. 6. Authority to charge fees.
18	18	8 (a) When a person requests a copy of a record maintained in
19	19	9 an electronic format, the public body shall furnish it in the
20	20	10 electronic format specified by the requester, if feasible. If
21	21	11 it is not feasible to furnish the public records in the
22	22	12 specified electronic format, then the public body shall
23	23	13 furnish it in the format in which it is maintained by the
24	24	14 public body, or in paper format at the option of the requester.
25	25	15 A public body may charge the requester for the actual cost of
26	26	16 purchasing the recording medium, whether disc, diskette, tape,
27	27	17 or other medium. If a request is not a request for a commercial
28	28	18 purpose or a voluminous request, a public body may not charge
29	29	19 the requester for the costs of any search for and review of the
30	30	20 records or other personnel costs associated with reproducing
31	31	21 the records. Except to the extent that the General Assembly
32	32	22 expressly provides, statutory fees applicable to copies of
33	33	23 public records when furnished in a paper format shall not be
34	34
35	35
36	36
37	37	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB2167 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
38	38	5 ILCS 140/6 from Ch. 116, par. 206 5 ILCS 140/6 from Ch. 116, par. 206
39	39	5 ILCS 140/6 from Ch. 116, par. 206
40	40	Amends the Freedom of Information Act. In provisions regarding the authority to charge fees and the imposition of a fee for a voluminous request, removes requirements for an accounting of all personnel hours in connection with the request for public records.
41	41	LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b
42	42	LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b
43	43	A BILL FOR
44	44
45	45
46	46
47	47
48	48
49	49	5 ILCS 140/6 from Ch. 116, par. 206
50	50
51	51
52	52
53	53	LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b
54	54
55	55
56	56
57	57
58	58
59	59
60	60
61	61
62	62
63	63	SB2167 LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b
64	64
65	65
66	66	SB2167- 2 -LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b SB2167 - 2 - LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b
67	67	SB2167 - 2 - LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b
68	68	1 applicable to those records when furnished in an electronic
69	69	2 format.
70	70	3 (a-5) If a voluminous request is for electronic records
71	71	4 and those records are not in a portable document format (PDF),
72	72	5 the public body may charge up to $20 for not more than 2
73	73	6 megabytes of data, up to $40 for more than 2 but not more than
74	74	7 4 megabytes of data, and up to $100 for more than 4 megabytes
75	75	8 of data. If a voluminous request is for electronic records and
76	76	9 those records are in a portable document format, the public
77	77	10 body may charge up to $20 for not more than 80 megabytes of
78	78	11 data, up to $40 for more than 80 megabytes but not more than
79	79	12 160 megabytes of data, and up to $100 for more than 160
80	80	13 megabytes of data. If the responsive electronic records are in
81	81	14 both a portable document format and not in a portable document
82	82	15 format, the public body may separate the fees and charge the
83	83	16 requester under both fee scales.
84	84	17 If a public body imposes a fee pursuant to this subsection
85	85	18 (a-5), it must provide the requester with an accounting of all
86	86	19 fees and , costs, and personnel hours in connection with the
87	87	20 request for public records.
88	88	21 (b) Except when a fee is otherwise fixed by statute, each
89	89	22 public body may charge fees reasonably calculated to reimburse
90	90	23 its actual cost for reproducing and certifying public records
91	91	24 and for the use, by any person, of the equipment of the public
92	92	25 body to copy records. No fees shall be charged for the first 50
93	93	26 pages of black and white, letter or legal sized copies
94	94
95	95
96	96
97	97
98	98
99	99	SB2167 - 2 - LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b
100	100
101	101
102	102	SB2167- 3 -LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b SB2167 - 3 - LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b
103	103	SB2167 - 3 - LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b
104	104	1 requested by a requester. The fee for black and white, letter
105	105	2 or legal sized copies shall not exceed 15 cents per page. If a
106	106	3 public body provides copies in color or in a size other than
107	107	4 letter or legal, the public body may not charge more than its
108	108	5 actual cost for reproducing the records. In calculating its
109	109	6 actual cost for reproducing records or for the use of the
110	110	7 equipment of the public body to reproduce records, a public
111	111	8 body shall not include the costs of any search for and review
112	112	9 of the records or other personnel costs associated with
113	113	10 reproducing the records, except for commercial requests as
114	114	11 provided in subsection (f) of this Section. Such fees shall be
115	115	12 imposed according to a standard scale of fees, established and
116	116	13 made public by the body imposing them. The cost for certifying
117	117	14 a record shall not exceed $1.
118	118	15 (c) Documents shall be furnished without charge or at a
119	119	16 reduced charge, as determined by the public body, if the
120	120	17 person requesting the documents states the specific purpose
121	121	18 for the request and indicates that a waiver or reduction of the
122	122	19 fee is in the public interest. Waiver or reduction of the fee
123	123	20 is in the public interest if the principal purpose of the
124	124	21 request is to access and disseminate information regarding the
125	125	22 health, safety and welfare or the legal rights of the general
126	126	23 public and is not for the principal purpose of personal or
127	127	24 commercial benefit. For purposes of this subsection,
128	128	25 "commercial benefit" shall not apply to requests made by news
129	129	26 media when the principal purpose of the request is to access
130	130
131	131
132	132
133	133
134	134
135	135	SB2167 - 3 - LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b
136	136
137	137
138	138	SB2167- 4 -LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b SB2167 - 4 - LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b
139	139	SB2167 - 4 - LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b
140	140	1 and disseminate information regarding the health, safety, and
141	141	2 welfare or the legal rights of the general public. In setting
142	142	3 the amount of the waiver or reduction, the public body may take
143	143	4 into consideration the amount of materials requested and the
144	144	5 cost of copying them.
145	145	6 (d) The imposition of a fee not consistent with
146	146	7 subsections (6)(a) and (b) of this Act constitutes a denial of
147	147	8 access to public records for the purposes of judicial review.
148	148	9 (e) The fee for each abstract of a driver's record shall be
149	149	10 as provided in Section 6-118 of "The Illinois Vehicle Code",
150	150	11 approved September 29, 1969, as amended, whether furnished as
151	151	12 a paper copy or as an electronic copy.
152	152	13 (f) A public body may charge up to $10 for each hour spent
153	153	14 by personnel in searching for and retrieving a requested
154	154	15 record or examining the record for necessary redactions. No
155	155	16 fees shall be charged for the first 8 hours spent by personnel
156	156	17 in searching for or retrieving a requested record. A public
157	157	18 body may charge the actual cost of retrieving and transporting
158	158	19 public records from an off-site storage facility when the
159	159	20 public records are maintained by a third-party storage company
160	160	21 under contract with the public body. If a public body imposes a
161	161	22 fee pursuant to this subsection (f), it must provide the
162	162	23 requester with an accounting of all fees, costs, and personnel
163	163	24 hours in connection with the request for public records. The
164	164	25 provisions of this subsection (f) apply only to commercial
165	165	26 requests.
166	166
167	167
168	168
169	169
170	170
171	171	SB2167 - 4 - LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b
172	172
173	173
174	174	SB2167- 5 -LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b SB2167 - 5 - LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b
175	175	SB2167 - 5 - LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b
176	176
177	177
178	178
179	179
180	180
181	181	SB2167 - 5 - LRB104 08964 BDA 19019 b