Bill Text: IL HB2578 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Changes the definition of "person". Allows, within 5 business days after its receipt of the request, a public body that has a reasonable belief that a request was not submitted by a person to require the requester to verify orally or in writing that the requester is a person. Provides that the deadline for the public body to respond to the request shall be tolled until the requester verifies that he or she is a person. Provides that, if the requester fails to verify that he or she is a person within 30 days after the public body requests such a verification, then the public body may deny the request.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-06 - Referred to Rules Committee [HB2578 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-HB2578-Introduced.html

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104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB2578 Introduced , by Rep. Daniel Didech SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
5 ILCS 140/2 from Ch. 116, par. 202
5 ILCS 140/3 from Ch. 116, par. 203
Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Changes the definition of "person". Allows, within 5 business days after its receipt of the request, a public body that has a reasonable belief that a request was not submitted by a person to require the requester to verify orally or in writing that the requester is a person. Provides that the deadline for the public body to respond to the request shall be tolled until the requester verifies that he or she is a person. Provides that, if the requester fails to verify that he or she is a person within 30 days after the public body requests such a verification, then the public body may deny the request.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by
changing Sections 2 and 3 as follows:
(5 ILCS 140/2) (from Ch. 116, par. 202)
Sec. 2. Definitions. As used in this Act:
(a) "Public body" means all legislative, executive,
administrative, or advisory bodies of the State, state
universities and colleges, counties, townships, cities,
villages, incorporated towns, school districts and all other
municipal corporations, boards, bureaus, committees, or
commissions of this State, any subsidiary bodies of any of the
foregoing including but not limited to committees and
subcommittees thereof, and a School Finance Authority created
under Article 1E of the School Code. "Public body" does not
include a child death review team or the Illinois Child Death
Review Teams Executive Council established under the Child
Death Review Team Act, or a regional youth advisory board or
the Statewide Youth Advisory Board established under the
Department of Children and Family Services Statewide Youth
Advisory Board Act.
(b) "Person" means any individual or any individual acting

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as an agent of a , corporation, partnership, firm,
organization or association, acting individually or as a
group.
(c) "Public records" means all records, reports, forms,
writings, letters, memoranda, books, papers, maps,
photographs, microfilms, cards, tapes, recordings, electronic
data processing records, electronic communications, recorded
information and all other documentary materials pertaining to
the transaction of public business, regardless of physical
form or characteristics, having been prepared by or for, or
having been or being used by, received by, in the possession
of, or under the control of any public body.
(c-5) "Private information" means unique identifiers,
including a person's social security number, driver's license
number, employee identification number, biometric identifiers,
personal financial information, passwords or other access
codes, medical records, home or personal telephone numbers,
and personal email addresses. Private information also
includes home address and personal license plates, except as
otherwise provided by law or when compiled without possibility
of attribution to any person. For a public body that is a
HIPAA-covered entity, "private information" includes
electronic medical records and all information, including
demographic information, contained within or extracted from an
electronic medical records system operated or maintained by
the public body in compliance with State and federal medical

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privacy laws and regulations, including, but not limited to,
the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and
its regulations, 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164. As used in this
subsection, "HIPAA-covered entity" has the meaning given to
the term "covered entity" in 45 CFR 160.103.
(c-10) "Commercial purpose" means the use of any part of a
public record or records, or information derived from public
records, in any form for sale, resale, or solicitation or
advertisement for sales or services. For purposes of this
definition, requests made by news media and non-profit,
scientific, or academic organizations shall not be considered
to be made for a "commercial purpose" when the principal
purpose of the request is (i) to access and disseminate
information concerning news and current or passing events,
(ii) for articles of opinion or features of interest to the
public, or (iii) for the purpose of academic, scientific, or
public research or education.
(d) "Copying" means the reproduction of any public record
by means of any photographic, electronic, mechanical or other
process, device or means now known or hereafter developed and
available to the public body.
(e) "Head of the public body" means the president, mayor,
chairman, presiding officer, director, superintendent,
manager, supervisor or individual otherwise holding primary
executive and administrative authority for the public body, or
such person's duly authorized designee.

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(f) "News media" means a newspaper or other periodical
issued at regular intervals whether in print or electronic
format, a news service whether in print or electronic format,
a radio station, a television station, a television network, a
community antenna television service, or a person or
corporation engaged in making news reels or other motion
picture news for public showing.
(g) "Recurrent requester", as used in Section 3.2 of this
Act, means a person that, in the 12 months immediately
preceding the request, has submitted to the same public body
(i) a minimum of 50 requests for records, (ii) a minimum of 15
requests for records within a 30-day period, or (iii) a
minimum of 7 requests for records within a 7-day period. For
purposes of this definition, requests made by news media and
non-profit, scientific, or academic organizations shall not be
considered in calculating the number of requests made in the
time periods in this definition when the principal purpose of
the requests is (i) to access and disseminate information
concerning news and current or passing events, (ii) for
articles of opinion or features of interest to the public, or
(iii) for the purpose of academic, scientific, or public
research or education.
For the purposes of this subsection (g), "request" means a
written document (or oral request, if the public body chooses
to honor oral requests) that is submitted to a public body via
personal delivery, mail, telefax, electronic mail, or other

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means available to the public body and that identifies the
particular public record the requester seeks. One request may
identify multiple records to be inspected or copied.
(h) "Voluminous request" means a request that: (i)
includes more than 5 individual requests for more than 5
different categories of records or a combination of individual
requests that total requests for more than 5 different
categories of records in a period of 20 business days; or (ii)
requires the compilation of more than 500 letter or
legal-sized pages of public records unless a single requested
record exceeds 500 pages. "Single requested record" may
include, but is not limited to, one report, form, e-mail,
letter, memorandum, book, map, microfilm, tape, or recording.
"Voluminous request" does not include a request made by
news media and non-profit, scientific, or academic
organizations if the principal purpose of the request is: (1)
to access and disseminate information concerning news and
current or passing events; (2) for articles of opinion or
features of interest to the public; or (3) for the purpose of
academic, scientific, or public research or education.
For the purposes of this subsection (h), "request" means a
written document, or oral request, if the public body chooses
to honor oral requests, that is submitted to a public body via
personal delivery, mail, telefax, electronic mail, or other
means available to the public body and that identifies the
particular public record or records the requester seeks. One

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request may identify multiple individual records to be
inspected or copied.
(i) "Severance agreement" means a mutual agreement between
any public body and its employee for the employee's
resignation in exchange for payment by the public body.
(Source: P.A. 103-554, eff. 1-1-24.)
(5 ILCS 140/3) (from Ch. 116, par. 203)
Sec. 3. (a) Each public body shall make available to any
person for inspection or copying all public records, except as
otherwise provided in Sections 7 and 8.5 of this Act.
Notwithstanding any other law, a public body may not grant to
any person or entity, whether by contract, license, or
otherwise, the exclusive right to access and disseminate any
public record as defined in this Act.
(b) Subject to the fee provisions of Section 6 of this Act,
each public body shall promptly provide, to any person who
submits a request, a copy of any public record required to be
disclosed by subsection (a) of this Section and shall certify
such copy if so requested.
(c) Requests for inspection or copies shall be made in
writing and directed to the public body. Written requests may
be submitted to a public body via personal delivery, mail,
telefax, or other means available to the public body. A public
body may honor oral requests for inspection or copying. A
public body may not require that a request be submitted on a

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standard form or require the requester to specify the purpose
for a request, except to determine whether the records are
requested for a commercial purpose or whether to grant a
request for a fee waiver. All requests for inspection and
copying received by a public body shall immediately be
forwarded to its Freedom of Information officer or designee.
(d) Each public body shall, promptly, either comply with
or deny a request for public records within 5 business days
after its receipt of the request, unless the time for response
is properly extended under subsection (e) of this Section.
Denial shall be in writing as provided in Section 9 of this
Act. Failure to comply with a written request, extend the time
for response, or deny a request within 5 business days after
its receipt shall be considered a denial of the request. A
public body that fails to respond to a request within the
requisite periods in this Section but thereafter provides the
requester with copies of the requested public records may not
impose a fee for such copies. A public body that fails to
respond to a request received may not treat the request as
unduly burdensome under subsection (g).
(e) The time for response under this Section may be
extended by the public body for not more than 5 business days
from the original due date for any of the following reasons:
(i) the requested records are stored in whole or in
part at other locations than the office having charge of
the requested records;

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(ii) the request requires the collection of a
substantial number of specified records;
(iii) the request is couched in categorical terms and
requires an extensive search for the records responsive to
it;
(iv) the requested records have not been located in
the course of routine search and additional efforts are
being made to locate them;
(v) the requested records require examination and
evaluation by personnel having the necessary competence
and discretion to determine if they are exempt from
disclosure under Section 7 of this Act or should be
revealed only with appropriate deletions;
(vi) the request for records cannot be complied with
by the public body within the time limits prescribed by
subsection (d) of this Section without unduly burdening or
interfering with the operations of the public body;
(vii) there is a need for consultation, which shall be
conducted with all practicable speed, with another public
body or among 2 or more components of a public body having
a substantial interest in the determination or in the
subject matter of the request.
The person making a request and the public body may agree
in writing to extend the time for compliance for a period to be
determined by the parties. If the requester and the public
body agree to extend the period for compliance, a failure by

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the public body to comply with any previous deadlines shall
not be treated as a denial of the request for the records.
(f) When additional time is required for any of the above
reasons, the public body shall, within 5 business days after
receipt of the request, notify the person making the request
of the reasons for the extension and the date by which the
response will be forthcoming. Failure to respond within the
time permitted for extension shall be considered a denial of
the request. A public body that fails to respond to a request
within the time permitted for extension but thereafter
provides the requester with copies of the requested public
records may not impose a fee for those copies. A public body
that requests an extension and subsequently fails to respond
to the request may not treat the request as unduly burdensome
under subsection (g).
(g) Requests calling for all records falling within a
category shall be complied with unless compliance with the
request would be unduly burdensome for the complying public
body and there is no way to narrow the request and the burden
on the public body outweighs the public interest in the
information. Before invoking this exemption, the public body
shall extend to the person making the request an opportunity
to confer with it in an attempt to reduce the request to
manageable proportions. If any public body responds to a
categorical request by stating that compliance would unduly
burden its operation and the conditions described above are

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met, it shall do so in writing, specifying the reasons why it
would be unduly burdensome and the extent to which compliance
will so burden the operations of the public body. Such a
response shall be treated as a denial of the request for
information.
Repeated requests from the same person for the same
records that are unchanged or identical to records previously
provided or properly denied under this Act shall be deemed
unduly burdensome under this provision.
(h) Each public body may promulgate rules and regulations
in conformity with the provisions of this Section pertaining
to the availability of records and procedures to be followed,
including:
(i) the times and places where such records will be
made available, and
(ii) the persons from whom such records may be
obtained.
(i) The time periods for compliance or denial of a request
to inspect or copy records set out in this Section shall not
apply to requests for records made for a commercial purpose,
requests by a recurrent requester, or voluminous requests.
Such requests shall be subject to the provisions of Sections
3.1, 3.2, and 3.6 of this Act, as applicable.
(j) Within 5 business days after its receipt of the
request, a public body that has a reasonable belief that a
request was not submitted by a person may require the

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requester to verify orally or in writing that the requester is
a person. The deadline for the public body to respond to the
request shall be tolled until the requester verifies that he
or she is a person. If the requester fails to verify that he or
she is a person within 30 days after the public body requests
such a verification, then the public body may deny the
request.
(Source: P.A. 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)