JUDICIAL PRIVACY ACT

Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SB3491

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104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
SB3491

Introduced 2/5/2026, by Sen. Sally J. Turner

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

705 ILCS 90/1-5
705 ILCS 90/1-10
705 ILCS 90/2-1
705 ILCS 90/2-5
705 ILCS 90/2-10
705 ILCS 90/3-1
705 ILCS 90/4-1

Amends the Judicial Privacy Act to expand coverage to federal
judicial officials and State judicial officials that includes judges and
clerks of the State and federal judicial system. Amends "personal
information" that may be protected to include financial, date of birth,
race and ethnicity, and biometric information. Provides the method of
making a written request to protect personal information by a federal and
State judicial official. Creates form for the written request. Allows a
court file or document to be sealed. Makes other changes.
LRB104 19469 JRC 32917 b

A BILL FOR

SB3491
LRB104 19469 JRC 32917 b
1

AN ACT concerning the courts.

2

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3
represented in the General Assembly:

4

Section 5.
The Judicial Privacy Act is amended by changing
5
Sections 1-5, 1-10, 2-1, 2-5, 2-10, 3-1, 3-5, and 4-1 as
6
follows:

7

(705 ILCS 90/1-5)
8

Sec. 1-5.
Purpose.
The purpose of this Act is to improve
9
the safety and security of
federal

Illinois
judicial officers
10
and State judicial officers
to ensure they are able to
11
administer justice fairly without fear of personal reprisal
12
from individuals affected by the decisions they make in the
13
course of carrying out their public function.
14

This Act is not intended to restrain a
federal
judicial
15
officer
or State judicial officer
from independently making
16
public his or her own personal information. Additionally, no
17
government agency, person, business, or association has any
18
obligation under this Act to protect the privacy of a
federal

19
judicial officer's
or State judicial officer's
personal
20
information until the
federal
judicial officer
or State
21
judicial officer
makes a written request that his or her
22
personal information not be publicly posted.
23

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to impair free

SB3491
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LRB104 19469 JRC 32917 b
1
access to decisions and opinions expressed by
federal
judicial
2
officers
or State judicial officers
in the course of carrying
3
out their public functions.
4
(Source: P.A. 97-847, eff. 9-22-12.)

5

(705 ILCS 90/1-10)
6

Sec. 1-10.
Definitions.
As used in this Act:
7

"Government agency" includes all agencies, authorities,
8
boards, commissions, departments, institutions, offices, and
9
any other bodies politic and corporate of the State created by
10
the constitution or statute, whether in the executive,
11
judicial, or legislative branch; all units and corporate
12
outgrowths created by executive order of the Governor or any
13
constitutional officer, by the Supreme Court, or by resolution
14
of the General Assembly; or agencies, authorities, boards,
15
commissions, departments, institutions, offices, and any other
16
bodies politic and corporate of a unit of local government, or
17
school district.
18

"Home address" includes a
federal
judicial officer's
or
19
State judicial officer's
permanent residence and any secondary
20
residences affirmatively identified by the
federal
judicial
21
officer
or State judicial officer
, but does not include a
22
federal
judicial officer's
or State judicial officer's
work
23
address.
24

"Immediate family" includes a
federal judicial officer or
25
state
judicial officer's

SB3491
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LRB104 19469 JRC 32917 b
1

(1)
spouse,
2

(2)
child
under the age of 18
,
3

(3)
parent, or
4

(4)
any blood relative of the
federal
judicial officer
5

or State judicial officer
or
the judicial officer's
spouse
6

who lives in the same residence.
7

A federal judicial officer or State judicial officer may
8
indicate the personal information of immediate family members
9
to be excluded to the extent that it could reasonably be
10
expected to reveal the personal information of the federal
11
judicial officer or State judicial officer.
12

"Federal judicial officer" includes actively employed,
13
former or deceased:
14

(1) Justices of the United States Supreme Court
15

(2) Judges of the United States Court of Appeals;
16

(3) Judges and magistrate judges of the United States
17

District Court; and
18

(4) Judges of the United States Bankruptcy Court.
19

(5) Clerks of the federal Courts.

20

"Judicial officer" includes actively employed and former
21
or deceased:
22

(1) Justices of the United States Supreme Court and
23

the Illinois Supreme Court;
24

(2) Judges of the United States Court of Appeals;
25

(3) Judges and magistrate judges of the United States
26

District Court;

SB3491
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LRB104 19469 JRC 32917 b
1

(4) Judges of the United States Bankruptcy Court;
2

(5) Judges of the Illinois Appellate Court;
3

(6) Judges and associate judges of the Illinois
4

Circuit Courts; and
5

(7) Administrative law judges as defined in Section
6

1-15 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.
7

"Personal information" means a home address, home
8
telephone number, mobile telephone number, pager number,
9
personal email address, social security number, federal tax
10
identification number,
financial

checking and savings
account
11
numbers, credit card numbers,
date of birth,
marital status,
12
race and ethnicity, biometric information

and identity of
13
children under the age of 18
.
14

"Publicly available content" means any written, printed,
15
or electronic document or record that provides information or
16
that serves as a document or record maintained, controlled, or
17
in the possession of a government agency
as of the date of the
18
written request
that may be obtained by any person or entity,
19
from the Internet, from the government agency upon request
20
either free of charge or for a fee, or in response to a request
21
under the Freedom of Information Act.
22

"Publicly post" or "publicly display" means to communicate
23
to another or otherwise make available to the general public.
24

"State judicial officer" means a judicial officer actively
25
employed, appointed or elected, former or deceased:
26

(1) Justices of the Supreme Court of Illinois;

SB3491
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LRB104 19469 JRC 32917 b
1

(2) Judges of the Illinois Appellate Court;
2

(3) Circuit and associate judges of the Illinois
3

Circuit Courts;
4

(4) Administrative law judges as defined in Section
5

1-15 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act; and
6

(5) Clerks of the Illinois Supreme, Appellate or
7

Circuit Courts.

8

"Written request" means written notice signed by a
federal

9
judicial officer
, State judicial officer,
or a representative
10
of the
federal
judicial officer's
or State judicial officer's

11
employer requesting a government agency, person, business, or
12
association to refrain from posting or displaying publicly
13
available content that includes the
federal
judicial officer's
14
or State judicial officer's
personal information.
A written
15
request delivered to the government agency by unsecured
16
electronic mail is not permitted. Written requests must be
17
mailed via United States Postal Service or hand delivered to
18
the government agency and contain relevant details to validate
19
the source of the request, which may be accomplished by
20
official letterhead, specific identifiers, digital signatures
21
or other industry-standard authentication protocols. The
22
written request must specifically identify the federal
23
judicial officer or State judicial officer's information,
24
cases, documents, or other content requested to be removed
25
from public display. A written request must be provided for
26
any new personal information which may be received after the

SB3491
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LRB104 19469 JRC 32917 b
1
date of any previous written request. Nothing in this Act
2
requires a recipient of a written request to continue to
3
review records for new personal information for a federal
4
judicial officer, State judicial officer, or immediate family
5
that may be received after the date of the written request
6
specifying the personal information to be removed from public
7
display.
8
(Source: P.A. 104-278, eff. 1-1-26
.)

9

(705 ILCS 90/2-1)
10

Sec. 2-1.
Publicly posting or displaying a
federal

11
judicial officer's
or State judicial officer's
personal
12
information by government agencies.
13

(a) Government agencies shall not publicly post or display
14
publicly available content that includes a
federal
judicial
15
officer's
or State judicial officer's
personal information,
16
provided that the government agency has received a written
17
request in accordance with
Sections 1-10 and

Section
2-10 of
18
this Act that it refrain from disclosing the
federal
judicial
19
officer's
or State judicial officer's
personal information.
20
After a government agency has received a written request, that
21
agency shall remove the
judicial officer's
personal
22
information from publicly available content within 5 business
23
days. After the government agency has removed the
judicial
24
officer's
personal information from publicly available
25
content, the agency shall not publicly post or display the

SB3491
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LRB104 19469 JRC 32917 b
1
information and the
judicial officer's
personal information
2
shall be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act unless the
3
government agency has received consent from the
federal

4
judicial officer
or State judicial officer
to make the
5
personal information available to the public.
6

(b) Redress. If a government agency
willfully
fails to
7
comply with a written request to refrain from disclosing
8
personal information, the
federal
judicial officer
or State
9
judicial officer
may bring an action seeking injunctive or
10
declaratory relief in any court of competent jurisdiction.
11
(Source: P.A. 97-847, eff. 9-22-12.)

12

(705 ILCS 90/2-5)
13

Sec. 2-5.
Publicly posting a
federal
judicial officer's
or
14
State judicial officer's
personal information on the Internet
15
by
government agency,
persons, businesses, and associations.
16

(a) Prohibited Conduct.
17

(1) All persons, businesses, and associations shall
18

refrain from publicly posting or displaying on the
19

Internet publicly available content that includes a
20

federal
judicial officer's
or State judicial officer's

21

personal information, provided that the
federal
judicial
22

officer
or State judicial officer
has made a written
23

request to the
government agency,
person, business, or
24

association that it refrain from disclosing the personal
25

information.

SB3491
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LRB104 19469 JRC 32917 b
1

(2) No person, business, or association shall solicit,
2

sell, or trade on the Internet a
federal
judicial
3

officer's
or State judicial officer's
personal information
4

with the
willful
intent to pose an imminent and serious
5

threat to the health and safety of the
federal
judicial
6

officer
or State judicial officer

or the judicial
7

officer's immediate family
.
8

(3) This subsection includes, but is not limited to,
9

Internet phone directories, Internet search engines,
10

Internet data aggregators, and Internet service providers
11

that are under the direct or contractual control of the
12

government agency, person, business, or association
.
13

(b) Required Conduct.
14

(1) After a person, business, or association has
15

received a written request from a
federal
judicial officer
16

or State judicial officer
to protect the privacy of the
17

federal judicial officer or state judicial
officer's
18

personal information, that
government agency,
person,
19

business, or association shall have
5 business days

72
20

hours
to remove the personal information from the
21

Internet.
22

(2) After a
government agency,
person, business, or
23

association has received a written request from a
federal

24

judicial officer
or State judicial officer
, that
25

government agency,
person, business, or association shall
26

ensure that the
judicial officer's
personal information is

SB3491
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LRB104 19469 JRC 32917 b
1

not made available on any website or subsidiary website
2

controlled
or contracted
by that person, business, or
3

association.
4

(3) After receiving a
federal
judicial officer's
or
5

State judicial officer's
written request,
unless otherwise
6

required by rule, order, or law,
no
government agency,

7

person, business, or association shall transfer the
8

federal
judicial officer's
or State judicial officer's
9

written request or
personal information to any other
10

government agency,
person, business, or association
11

through any medium.
12

(4) Any written requests received by a government
13

agency, person, business, or association is confidential
14

and maintained as required by law, order, or rule.
15

(5) If a written request or notice from the
16

Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, directly
17

from a federal judicial officer, State judicial officer,
18

or requester's employer is received by a Supreme,
19

Appellate, or Circuit Court Clerk of Illinois identifying
20

specific court cases or documents containing a federal
21

judicial officer or State judicial officer's personal
22

information, the court clerk must seal the cases or
23

documents identified in the written request or notice.

24

(c) Redress.
25

A
federal
judicial officer
or State judicial officer

26

whose personal information is made public as a result of a

SB3491
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LRB104 19469 JRC 32917 b
1

willful
violation of this Act may bring an action seeking
2

injunctive or declaratory relief in any court of competent
3

jurisdiction. If the court grants injunctive or
4

declaratory relief, the person, business, or association
5

responsible for the violation shall be required to pay the
6

federal
judicial officer's
or State judicial officer's

7

costs and reasonable attorney's fees.
8
(Source: P.A. 97-847, eff. 9-22-12.)

9

(705 ILCS 90/2-10)
10

Sec. 2-10.
Procedure for completing a written request.
11

(a) Requirement that a
federal
judicial officer
or State
12
judicial officer
make a written request. No government agency,
13
person, business, or association shall be found to have
14
violated any provision of this Act if the
federal
judicial
15
officer
or State judicial officer
fails to submit a written
16
request calling for the protection of the officer's personal
17
information.
Upon the death of a federal judicial officer or
18
State judicial officer, an immediate family may submit a
19
written request as specified in Sections 1-10 and 2-10(c)
20
requesting an extension of the removal of personal information
21
from publicly available content.

22

(b) Written request procedure.
A written request shall be
23
valid if:

24

(1) The
federal
judicial officer
may send

sends
a
25

written request
as specified in Sections 1-10 and 2-10(c)

SB3491
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LRB104 19469 JRC 32917 b
1

directly to a government agency, person, business, or
2

association
. A representative from the federal judicial
3

officer's employer may submit a written request on the
4

individual officer's behalf, provided that the federal
5

judicial officer gives written consent to the
6

representative and provided that the representative agrees
7

to furnish a copy of that consent when a written request is
8

made.

; or
9

(2)
The

If the
Administrative Office of the Illinois
10

Courts
shall develop and provide

has
a policy and
11

procedure for
State

a state
judicial
officers

officer
to
12

file
a

the
written request with the Administrative Office
13

to notify
State or local
government agencies
. Any
14

information sent to or received from a government agency
15

under this subsection may not be transacted via unsecured
16

email. The policy shall be distributed annually to all
17

State judicial officers and provide, at a minimum, the
18

following:

, the state judicial officer may send the
19

written request to the Administrative Office of the
20

Illinois Courts. In each quarter of a calendar year, the
21

Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts shall provide
22

a list of all state judicial officers who have submitted a
23

written request to it, to the appropriate officer with
24

ultimate supervisory authority for a government agency.
25

The officer shall promptly provide a copy of the list to
26

any and all government agencies under his or her

SB3491
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LRB104 19469 JRC 32917 b
1

supervision. Receipt of the written request list compiled
2

by the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts by a
3

government agency shall constitute a written request to
4

that Agency for the purposes of this Act.
5

(A) the form for the state judicial officer to use
6

for a written request which meets the minimum requirements
7

in Sections 1-10(i) and 2-10(c);
8

(B) identification of how to submit the written
9

request, which may include a secure electronic submission;
10

(C) a procedure to provide quarterly updates in
11

January, April, July and October to state or local
12

government agencies of any new written requests received
13

and detailed information about the statutory requirements
14

to comply. Receipt of the written request list compiled by
15

the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts by a
16

government agency shall constitute a written request to
17

that Agency for the purposes of this Act;
18

(D) a procedure to allow a government agency which
19

receives a quarterly update to provide confirmation that
20

the personal information of the State judicial officer
21

and, when applicable, immediate family has been removed
22

from public display;
23

(E) a procedure to notify a government agency of a
24

State judicial officer's death, request for extension by
25

immediate family, or written permission to release the
26

personal information; and

SB3491
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LRB104 19469 JRC 32917 b
1

(F) a procedure to communicate to a state judicial
2

officer that a government agency listed in a notice does
3

not have contact information publicly available and to
4

request the State judicial officer provide additional
5

contact information.
6

the information identified by the State judicial
7

officer to be removed from public view in any written
8

request received by the Administrative Office of the
9

Illinois Courts must be included in the notice provided to
10

the recipient State or local government agency.

11

(c) A representative from the judicial officer's employer
12
may submit a written request on the judicial officer's behalf,
13
provided that the judicial officer gives written consent to
14
the representative and provided that the representative agrees
15
to furnish a copy of that consent when a written request is
16
made. The representative shall submit the written request as
17
provided in subsection (b) of this Section.
18

(c)

(d)
Information to be included in the written request.
19
A
federal
judicial officer's
or State judicial officer's

20
written request shall specify
:

what personal information shall
21
be maintained private.
22

(1) the date of the written request and identification
23

of the person submitting the request if other than the
24

federal judicial officer or state judicial officer;
25

(2) the name, home address, date of birth, and contact
26

information;

SB3491
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LRB104 19469 JRC 32917 b
1

(3) names, home address, including any secondary or
2

alternative home addresses, contact information and any
3

other relevant personal identifying information for any
4

immediate family included in the request;
5

(4) identification of each State or local government
6

agency to be notified;
7

(5) identification of the personal information to be
8

removed from public display; and
9

(6) the specific areas, documents, cases, or other
10

content in which the personal information for the federal
11

judicial officer, State judicial officer, or immediate
12

family is requested to be removed from public display and
13

whether the personal information is online, printed in
14

paper, or other format.
15

If a judicial officer wishes to identify a secondary
16
residence as a home address as that term is defined in this
17
Act, the designation shall be made in the written request.
18

A judicial officer shall disclose the identity of the
19
officer's immediate family and indicate that the personal
20
information of these family members shall also be excluded to
21
the extent that it could reasonably be expected to reveal the
22
personal information of the judicial officer.
23

(e) Duration of the written request.
24

(1)
A
judicial officer's
written request is valid
25
until the
federal
judicial officer
or State judicial officer

26
provides the government agency, person, business, or

SB3491
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LRB104 19469 JRC 32917 b
1
association with written permission to release the private
2
information.
3

(2)
A
judicial officer's
written request expires
upon

4
on
death
of the federal judicial officer or State judicial
5
officer unless a request to extend the duration is submitted
6
by the immediate family
.
7
(Source: P.A. 97-847, eff. 9-22-12.)

8

(705 ILCS 90/3-1)
9

Sec. 3-1.
Unlawful publication of personal information.
It
10
is unlawful for any person to knowingly publicly post on the
11
Internet the personal information of a
federal
judicial
12
officer
, State judicial officer,
or of the judicial officer's
13
immediate family if the person knows or reasonably should know
14
that publicly posting the personal information poses an
15
imminent and serious threat to the health and safety of the
16
federal
judicial officer
, State judicial officer,
or the
17
judicial officer's immediate family, and the violation is a
18
proximate cause of bodily injury or death of the
federal

19
judicial officer
, State judicial officer,
or
a member
of the
20
judicial officer's immediate family. A person who violates
21
this Section is guilty of a Class 3 felony.
22
(Source: P.A. 97-847, eff. 9-22-12.)

23

(705 ILCS 90/4-1)
24

Sec. 4-1.
Construction.
This Act and any rules adopted to

SB3491
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LRB104 19469 JRC 32917 b
1
implement this Act shall be construed broadly to favor the
2
protection of the personal information of
federal
judicial
3
officers
or State judicial officers
.
4
(Source: P.A. 97-847, eff. 9-22-12.)

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