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HB4597 - 104th General Assembly

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104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB4597

Introduced 2/3/2026, by Rep. Sharon Chung

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

5 ILCS 140/6

from Ch. 116, par. 206

Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that a public body may
impose a fee upon a requester for the actual, necessary, and direct cost of
redacting recorded audio or video content recordings made under the Law
Enforcement Officer-Worn Body Camera Act. Provides that the public body
may not impose the fee under specified circumstances. Requires the public
body to provide the requester, in writing, with an estimate of the amount
of the fee to be charged before before fulfilling the request.
LRB104 17930 BDA 31367 b

A BILL FOR

HB4597
LRB104 17930 BDA 31367 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 Section 6 as follows:

6

(5 ILCS 140/6)

(from Ch. 116, par. 206)
7

Sec. 6.
Authority to charge fees.
8

(a) When a person requests a copy of a record maintained in
9
an electronic format, the public body shall furnish it in the
10
electronic format specified by the requester, if feasible. If
11
it is not feasible to furnish the public records in the
12
specified electronic format, then the public body shall
13
furnish it in the format in which it is maintained by the
14
public body, or in paper format at the option of the requester.
15
A public body may charge the requester for the actual cost of
16
purchasing the recording medium, whether disc, diskette, tape,
17
or other medium. If a request is not a request for a commercial
18
purpose or a voluminous request, a public body may not charge
19
the requester for the costs of any search for and review of the
20
records or other personnel costs associated with reproducing
21
the records. Except to the extent that the General Assembly
22
expressly provides, statutory fees applicable to copies of
23
public records when furnished in a paper format shall not be

HB4597
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LRB104 17930 BDA 31367 b
1
applicable to those records when furnished in an electronic
2
format.
3

(a-5) If a voluminous request is for electronic records
4
and those records are not in a portable document format (PDF),
5
the public body may charge up to $20 for not more than 2
6
megabytes of data, up to $40 for more than 2 but not more than
7
4 megabytes of data, and up to $100 for more than 4 megabytes
8
of data. If a voluminous request is for electronic records and
9
those records are in a portable document format, the public
10
body may charge up to $20 for not more than 80 megabytes of
11
data, up to $40 for more than 80 megabytes but not more than
12
160 megabytes of data, and up to $100 for more than 160
13
megabytes of data. If the responsive electronic records are in
14
both a portable document format and not in a portable document
15
format, the public body may separate the fees and charge the
16
requester under both fee scales.
17

If a public body imposes a fee pursuant to this subsection
18
(a-5), it must provide the requester with an accounting of all
19
fees, costs, and personnel hours in connection with the
20
request for public records.
21

(b) Except when a fee is otherwise fixed by statute, each
22
public body may charge fees reasonably calculated to reimburse
23
its actual cost for reproducing and certifying public records
24
and for the use, by any person, of the equipment of the public
25
body to copy records. No fees shall be charged for the first 50
26
pages of black and white, letter or legal sized copies

HB4597
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LRB104 17930 BDA 31367 b
1
requested by a requester. The fee for black and white, letter
2
or legal sized copies shall not exceed 15 cents per page. If a
3
public body provides copies in color or in a size other than
4
letter or legal, the public body may not charge more than its
5
actual cost for reproducing the records. In calculating its
6
actual cost for reproducing records or for the use of the
7
equipment of the public body to reproduce records, a public
8
body shall not include the costs of any search for and review
9
of the records or other personnel costs associated with
10
reproducing the records, except for commercial requests as
11
provided in subsection (f) of this Section. Such fees shall be
12
imposed according to a standard scale of fees, established and
13
made public by the body imposing them. The cost for certifying
14
a record shall not exceed $1.
15

(c) Documents shall be furnished without charge or at a
16
reduced charge, as determined by the public body, if the
17
person requesting the documents states the specific purpose
18
for the request and indicates that a waiver or reduction of the
19
fee is in the public interest. Waiver or reduction of the fee
20
is in the public interest if the principal purpose of the
21
request is to access and disseminate information regarding the
22
health, safety and welfare or the legal rights of the general
23
public and is not for the principal purpose of personal or
24
commercial benefit. For purposes of this subsection,
25
"commercial benefit" shall not apply to requests made by news
26
media when the principal purpose of the request is to access

HB4597
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LRB104 17930 BDA 31367 b
1
and disseminate information regarding the health, safety, and
2
welfare or the legal rights of the general public. In setting
3
the amount of the waiver or reduction, the public body may take
4
into consideration the amount of materials requested and the
5
cost of copying them.
6

(d) The imposition of a fee not consistent with
7
subsections (6)(a) and (b) of this Act constitutes a denial of
8
access to public records for the purposes of judicial review.
9

(e) The fee for each abstract of a driver's record shall be
10
as provided in Section 6-118 of "The Illinois Vehicle Code",
11
approved September 29, 1969, as amended, whether furnished as
12
a paper copy or as an electronic copy.
13

(f) A public body may charge up to $10 for each hour spent
14
by personnel in searching for and retrieving a requested
15
record or examining the record for necessary redactions. No
16
fees shall be charged for the first 8 hours spent by personnel
17
in searching for or retrieving a requested record. A public
18
body may charge the actual cost of retrieving and transporting
19
public records from an off-site storage facility when the
20
public records are maintained by a third-party storage company
21
under contract with the public body. If a public body imposes a
22
fee pursuant to this subsection (f), it must provide the
23
requester with an accounting of all fees, costs, and personnel
24
hours in connection with the request for public records. The
25
provisions of this subsection (f) apply only to commercial
26
requests.

HB4597
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LRB104 17930 BDA 31367 b
1

(g) A public body may impose a fee upon a requester for the
2
actual, necessary, and direct cost of redacting, whether by
3
pixelization or other means, recorded audio or video content
4
recordings made under the Law Enforcement Officer-Worn Body
5
Camera Act to the extent redaction is necessary to comply with
6
the law. When calculating the fee imposed under this
7
subsection, the rate for an actual, necessary, and direct
8
charge for staff time spent redacting shall be based on the pay
9
rate of the public body's lowest paid employee capable of
10
performing the task. A public body may not impose a fee under
11
this subsection for a request for records containing audio or
12
video content if:
13

(1) the requester:
14

(A) is an individual that provides written
15

certification to the public body that the requester
16

will not use the audio or video content for financial
17

gain, except for seeking an award of damages in a civil
18

action; and
19

(B) during the calendar year in which the public
20

body receives the request, has not made more than 10
21

requests, including the current request but not
22

including any request that satisfied the requirements
23

of paragraph (2) or (3), to the public body for records
24

containing audio or video content;
25

(2) the requester is:
26

(A) directly involved in the events depicted on

HB4597
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LRB104 17930 BDA 31367 b
1

the audio or video content;
2

(B) an attorney representing an individual
3

directly involved in the events depicted on the audio
4

or video content; or
5

(C) the parent or guardian of an individual under
6

the age of 18 who is depicted on the audio or video
7

recording;
8

(3) the audio or video content depicts an
9

officer-involved shooting, as defined in Section 1-30 of
10

the Police and Community Relations Improvement Act; or
11

(4) the public body did not provide the requester, in
12

writing, with an estimate of the amount of the fee to be
13

charged before fulfilling the request.
14

(h) If an individual provides a false certification under
15
subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subsection (g), then the
16
individual shall be subject to a fine of $10,000 for each
17
violation.
18
(Source: P.A. 97-579, eff. 8-26-11; 98-1129, eff. 12-3-14.)

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