Public comment
This appeal continues from the summer of 2012 when Roxana Comm. Unit School Dist. No. 1 (RCUSD) asked for and was granted an injunction against the Illinois Pollution Control Board (PCB).
The injunction ordered the PCB to (1) stop violating the OMA and (2) hold all of its future meetings in public. See Roxana CUSD #1 v. WRB Refining, LP and EPA, Pollution Control Board & Dept. of Revenue, Ill. App. 4th 120331 (2012) (available in RC&AD archives).
The injunction only stopped the PCB from violating OMA during further proceedings pertaining to the parties of this case. The question of whether or not the PCB violated FOIA and OMA was to occur at a later date.
At that later date, the PCB won its motion for summary judgment in the trial court. This decision effectively stopped a trial on the question of whether the PCB violated the Illinois FOIA and OMA. RCUSD appealed this decision.
The Illinois Appellate Court reversed and remanded the case (sent it back to the trial court). On appeal, the Appellate court found as follows:
1. The PCB violated FOIA by not providing public records requested as statutorily mandated.
2. The PCB violated the mandates and overarching purpose of the OMA when it improperly prohibited public comment, restricted opportunity to address it during public comment to written filings, and discussed the merits of RCUSD’s claims in closed sessions.
For another related appeal out of this situation, please see Roxana Community Unit School Dist. No. 1 v. Environmental Protection Agency, --- N.E.2d ---, 2013 IL App (4th) 120825 (November 14, 2013) (available in the RC&AD District Organization and Operation section).