Illinois · statute · 5 ILCS 120 · 21 active provisions
Policy. It is the public policy of this State that public bodies exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business and that the people have a right to be informed as to the conduct of their business. In order that the people shall be informed, the General Assembly finds and declares that it is the intent of this Act…
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the Open Meetings Act. (Source: P.A. 82-378.)
For the purposes of this Act: "Meeting" means any gathering, whether in person or by video or audio conference, telephone call, electronic means (such as, without limitation, electronic mail, electronic chat, and instant messaging), or other means of contemporaneous interactive communication, of a majority of a quorum…
Training. (a) Every public body shall designate employees, officers, or members to receive training on compliance with this Act. Each public body shall submit a list of designated employees, officers, or members to the Public Access Counselor. Within 6 months after January 1, 2010 (the effective date of Public Act 96-5…
(Text of Section from P.A. 104-438) Sec. 2. Open meetings. (a) Openness required. All meetings of public bodies shall be open to the public unless excepted in subsection (c) and closed in accordance with Section 2a. (b) Construction of exceptions. The exceptions contained in subsection (c) are in derogation of the requ…
All meetings required by this Act to be public shall be held at specified times and places which are convenient and open to the public. No meeting required by this Act to be public shall be held on a legal holiday unless the regular meeting day falls on that holiday. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, a quorum o…
Public notice of all meetings, whether open or closed to the public, shall be given as follows: (a) Every public body shall give public notice of the schedule of regular meetings at the beginning of each calendar or fiscal year and shall state the regular dates, times, and places of such meetings. An agenda for each re…
In addition to the notice required by Section 2.02, each body subject to this Act must, at the beginning of each calendar or fiscal year, prepare and make available a schedule of all its regular meetings for such calendar or fiscal year, listing the times and places of such meetings. If a change is made in regular meet…
The notice requirements of this Act are in addition to, and not in substitution of, any other notice required by law. Failure of any news medium to receive a notice provided for by this Act shall not invalidate any meeting provided notice was in fact given in accordance with this Act. (Source: Laws 1967, p. 1960.)
Recording meetings. Subject to the provisions of Section 8-701 of the Code of Civil Procedure, any person may record the proceedings at meetings required to be open by this Act by tape, film or other means. The authority holding the meeting shall prescribe reasonable rules to govern the right to make such recordings. I…
Minutes; right to speak. (a) All public bodies shall keep written minutes of all their meetings, whether open or closed, and a verbatim record of all their closed meetings in the form of an audio or video recording. Minutes shall include, but need not be limited to: (1) the date, time and place of the meeting; (2) the…
Meetings on election days; prohibited. (a) A public body may not hold or schedule a regular or special meeting on the day of a general primary election, a general election, a consolidated primary election, or a consolidated election, as defined in the Election Code. (b) A home rule unit may not hold or schedule meeting…
A public body may hold a meeting closed to the public, or close a portion of a meeting to the public, upon a majority vote of a quorum present, taken at a meeting open to the public for which notice has been given as required by this Act. A single vote may be taken with respect to a series of meetings, a portion or por…
(a) Where the provisions of this Act are not complied with, or where there is probable cause to believe that the provisions of this Act will not be complied with, any person, including the State's Attorney of the county in which such noncompliance may occur, may bring a civil action in the circuit court for the judicia…
Public Access Counselor; opinions. (a) A person who believes that a violation of this Act by a public body has occurred may file a request for review with the Public Access Counselor established in the Office of the Attorney General not later than 60 days after the alleged violation. If facts concerning the violation a…
Any person violating any of the provisions of this Act, except subsection (b), (c), (d), (e), or (f) of Section 1.05, shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor. (Source: P.A. 97-504, eff. 1-1-12; 97-1153, eff. 1-25-13; 98-900, eff. 8-15-14.)
If any provision of this Act, or the application of this Act to any particular meeting or type of meeting is held invalid or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions or the other applications of this Act. (Source: Laws 1957, p. 2892.)
The provisions of this Act constitute minimum requirements for home rule units; any home rule unit may enact an ordinance prescribing more stringent requirements binding upon itself which would serve to give further notice to the public and facilitate public access to meetings. (Source: P.A. 78-448.)
Attendance by a means other than physical presence. (a) If a quorum of the members of the public body is physically present as required by Section 2.01, a majority of the public body may allow a member of that body to attend the meeting by other means if the member is prevented from physically attending because of: (i)…
Duty to post information pertaining to benefits offered through the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. (a) Within 6 business days after an employer participating in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund approves a budget, that employer must post on its website the total compensation package for each employee having a…
Administrative review. A binding opinion issued by the Attorney General shall be considered a final decision of an administrative agency, for purposes of administrative review under the Administrative Review Law (735 ILCS 5/Art. III). An action for administrative review of a binding opinion of the Attorney General shal…