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Full Text of SB1796

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SB1796 - 104th General Assembly

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SB1796 Engrossed
LRB104 09386 RTM 19445 b
1

AN ACT concerning local 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

SB1796 Engrossed
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LRB104 09386 RTM 19445 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

SB1796 Engrossed
- 3 -
LRB104 09386 RTM 19445 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

SB1796 Engrossed
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LRB104 09386 RTM 19445 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
or applying
necessary
16
redactions. No fees shall be charged for the first 8 hours
17
spent by personnel in searching for or retrieving a requested
18
record
, except for records subject to subsection (f-5) of this
19
Section
. A public body may charge the actual cost of
20
retrieving and transporting public records from an off-site
21
storage facility when the public records are maintained by a
22
third-party storage company under contract with the public
23
body. If a public body imposes a fee pursuant to this
24
subsection (f), it must provide the requester with an
25
accounting of all fees, costs, and personnel hours in
26
connection with the request for public records. The provisions

SB1796 Engrossed
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LRB104 09386 RTM 19445 b
1
of this subsection (f) apply only to
commercial
requests
made
2
for a commercial purpose as defined in subsection (c-10) of
3
Section 2 of this Act
.
4

(f-5) For recordings that are made pursuant to the Law
5
Enforcement Officer-Worn Body Camera Act, a public body may
6
charge fees reflecting its actual costs up to $40 for each hour
7
spent by personnel in searching for and retrieving a requested
8
recording or examining the recording for or applying necessary
9
redactions on requests unless the request is made by:
10

(1) a court order;
11

(2) the subject of the encounter or the subject's
12

legal representative;
13

(3) a witness to the encounter or the witness's
14

representative, if the encounter resulted in the recording
15

being flagged;
16

(4) a representative of the news media, as defined in
17

subsection (f) of Section 2 of this Act; or
18

(5) a nonprofit, scientific, or academic organization
19

when the principal purpose of the request is (i) to access
20

and disseminate information concerning news and current or
21

passing events, (ii) for articles of opinion or features
22

of interest to the public, or (iii) for the purpose of
23

academic, scientific, or public research or education.
24

If a public body imposes a fee under this subsection
25
(f-5), the public body shall, within 5 business days after the
26
public body's receipt of the request, provide the requester

SB1796 Engrossed
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LRB104 09386 RTM 19445 b
1
with an estimated time that will be required for the public
2
body to provide the recordings requested and an estimate of
3
the fees to be charged. A public body that fails to provide an
4
estimate of fees within 5 business days of the request may not
5
impose a fee for those copies. The deadline for the public body
6
to respond to a request that includes officer-worn body camera
7
video shall be tolled until the requester pays the estimated
8
fee. The public body shall have an additional 5 business days
9
to respond to a request once payment of the estimated fee is
10
made, as well as any extensions allowed under subsection (e)
11
of Section 3 or other applicable provisions of this Act. If the
12
requester fails to pay the estimated fees within 30 days after
13
the public body requests payment of the estimated fee, then
14
the public body may deny the request. If a public body imposes
15
a fee under this subsection (f-5), it must provide the
16
requester with an accounting of all fees, costs, and personnel
17
hours in connection with the request for public records and
18
must apply a new balance or refund paid amounts based on the
19
actual cost versus the paid estimate.
20

A requester who can demonstrate that the purpose of the
21
requester's request under this subsection is to access and
22
disseminate information in order to further the interest of
23
the health, safety, and welfare or the legal rights of the
24
community where the requester lives is eligible for a waiver
25
or reduction of the fees provided for under this subsection.
26
(Source: P.A. 97-579, eff. 8-26-11; 98-1129, eff. 12-3-14.)

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