Recent Court Decisions

Names of State University students and graduation information were categorized by the University as “directory information.” Directory information is not exempt from disclosure under Sections 7(1)(a),7(1)(b), or 7(1)(c) of FOIA.

A public body may not meet in a private residence, even when it gives a proper notice and posting of the meeting to the public. Here, a public body called a special meeting due to impending statutory time constraints. The public body knew that its routine meeting location would be closed for a holiday on the special meeting’s date, so it chose a public official’s private residence as the meeting location. The meeting location was not “convenient and open to the public” because a private residence could “reasonably be expected to deter citizens from attending the gathering. Citizens may have felt uncomfortable going to a public official’s home to attend a meeting. In this sense, the private residence was ‘ill-suited’ for a public meeting.”

Rules that require advance notice to the public body before recording a meeting violate the OMA. Here, a public body prohibited a citizen from recording its meeting because the citizen failed to provide advance notice that he would record the meeting. The public body’s rules required advance notice of the recording. The public body’s reason for its rule was so the public body’s clerk could ensure a citizen could get his or her equipment through the security checkpoint and to notify the public body of the recording. A public body may limit the right of the public to record open meetings only pursuant to prescribed rules, and then only to the extent that those rules are designed to prevent disruptions or avoid safety hazards and do not unduly interfere with the right to record. This public body’s rule was not reasonable or necessary to prevent interference with public meetings or protect the safety of those in attendance.

5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1) is not intended to allow closed session discussion of fiscal matters, notwithstanding that they may directly or indirectly impact the employees of the public body. The facts in this opinion involved discussions in closed session that centered on broader budgetary concerns, such as staffing needs, how staff reductions would affect the services provided by the public body, and which services were most valuable to the public body’s residents. While the discussions of budgetary concerns did lead to discussions that are allowed under 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1), they should have been held in open session.

Public bodies must set forth a description of the general subject matter that will be the subject of final action at the meeting. Here, standing committees of a public body had a practice of meeting during the morning of the day that their public body held its regular meetings. Then, the standing committees would refer their actions from the morning for the public body to take final action upon in the afternoon’s regular meeting. None of the standing committees’ actions were posted for final action on the public body’s agenda for the afternoon regular meeting. However, the standing committees’ actions were posted on the standing committee’s agendas for the morning. The PAC found this process violates 105 ILCS 120/2.02(c). To stop the violations, the PAC suggested that the public body list the same description of actions on its agenda that the standing committees would consider during the morning meetings.