Bill Text: IL HB5020 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that a public body shall take all reasonable steps to provide records in a format that is readable by the requester, including, but not limited to, making the record available in any format that is available to the public body and requested by the requester. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-23 - Rule 19(b) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB5020 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-HB5020-Introduced.html

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101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 HB5020 Introduced , by Rep. Anne Stava-Murray SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
5 ILCS 140/6 from Ch. 116, par. 206
Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that a public body shall take all reasonable steps to provide records in a format that is readable by the requester, including, but not limited to, making the record available in any format that is available to the public body and requested by the requester. Effective immediately.
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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 Section 6 as follows:
(5 ILCS 140/6) (from Ch. 116, par. 206)
Sec. 6. Authority to charge fees.
(a) When a person requests a copy of a record maintained in
an electronic format, the public body shall furnish it in the
electronic format specified by the requester, if feasible. The
public body shall take all reasonable steps to provide records
in a format that is readable by the requester, including, but
not limited to, making the record available in any format that
is available to the public body and requested by the requester.
If it is not feasible to furnish the public records in the
specified electronic format, then the public body shall furnish
it in the format in which it is maintained by the public body,
or in paper format at the option of the requester. A public
body may charge the requester for the actual cost of purchasing
the recording medium, whether disc, diskette, tape, or other
medium. If a request is not a request for a commercial purpose
or a voluminous request, a public body may not charge the
requester for the costs of any search for and review of the

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records or other personnel costs associated with reproducing
the records. Except to the extent that the General Assembly
expressly provides, statutory fees applicable to copies of
public records when furnished in a paper format shall not be
applicable to those records when furnished in an electronic
format.
(a-5) If a voluminous request is for electronic records and
those records are not in a portable document format (PDF), the
public body may charge up to $20 for not more than 2 megabytes
of data, up to $40 for more than 2 but not more than 4 megabytes
of data, and up to $100 for more than 4 megabytes of data. If a
voluminous request is for electronic records and those records
are in a portable document format, the public body may charge
up to $20 for not more than 80 megabytes of data, up to $40 for
more than 80 megabytes but not more than 160 megabytes of data,
and up to $100 for more than 160 megabytes of data. If the
responsive electronic records are in both a portable document
format and not in a portable document format, the public body
may separate the fees and charge the requester under both fee
scales.
If a public body imposes a fee pursuant to this subsection
(a-5), it must provide the requester with an accounting of all
fees, costs, and personnel hours in connection with the request
for public records.
(b) Except when a fee is otherwise fixed by statute, each
public body may charge fees reasonably calculated to reimburse

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its actual cost for reproducing and certifying public records
and for the use, by any person, of the equipment of the public
body to copy records. No fees shall be charged for the first 50
pages of black and white, letter or legal sized copies
requested by a requester. The fee for black and white, letter
or legal sized copies shall not exceed 15 cents per page. If a
public body provides copies in color or in a size other than
letter or legal, the public body may not charge more than its
actual cost for reproducing the records. In calculating its
actual cost for reproducing records or for the use of the
equipment of the public body to reproduce records, a public
body shall not include the costs of any search for and review
of the records or other personnel costs associated with
reproducing the records, except for commercial requests as
provided in subsection (f) of this Section. Such fees shall be
imposed according to a standard scale of fees, established and
made public by the body imposing them. The cost for certifying
a record shall not exceed $1.
(c) Documents shall be furnished without charge or at a
reduced charge, as determined by the public body, if the person
requesting the documents states the specific purpose for the
request and indicates that a waiver or reduction of the fee is
in the public interest. Waiver or reduction of the fee is in
the public interest if the principal purpose of the request is
to access and disseminate information regarding the health,
safety and welfare or the legal rights of the general public

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and is not for the principal purpose of personal or commercial
benefit. For purposes of this subsection, "commercial benefit"
shall not apply to requests made by news media when the
principal purpose of the request is to access and disseminate
information regarding the health, safety, and welfare or the
legal rights of the general public. In setting the amount of
the waiver or reduction, the public body may take into
consideration the amount of materials requested and the cost of
copying them.
(d) The imposition of a fee not consistent with subsections
(6)(a) and (b) of this Act constitutes a denial of access to
public records for the purposes of judicial review.
(e) The fee for each abstract of a driver's record shall be
as provided in Section 6-118 of "The Illinois Vehicle Code",
approved September 29, 1969, as amended, whether furnished as a
paper copy or as an electronic copy.
(f) A public body may charge up to $10 for each hour spent
by personnel in searching for and retrieving a requested record
or examining the record for necessary redactions. No fees shall
be charged for the first 8 hours spent by personnel in
searching for or retrieving a requested record. A public body
may charge the actual cost of retrieving and transporting
public records from an off-site storage facility when the
public records are maintained by a third-party storage company
under contract with the public body. If a public body imposes a
fee pursuant to this subsection (f), it must provide the

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requester with an accounting of all fees, costs, and personnel
hours in connection with the request for public records. The
provisions of this subsection (f) apply only to commercial
requests.
(Source: P.A. 97-579, eff. 8-26-11; 98-1129, eff. 12-3-14.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.