SB0643 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB100 08016 RJF 18099 b

100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
SB0643

Introduced 1/25/2017, by Sen. Heather A. Steans

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

5 ILCS 430/20-90
5 ILCS 430/20-95

Amends the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. Provides that the head and employees of a State agency affected by or involved in an investigation shall keep confidential and shall not disclose information exempted from disclosure under the Act or the Freedom of Information Act. Permits disclosure of investigatory files, reports, and requests for information of or by the Office of an Executive Inspector General to the head of a State agency affected by or involved in an investigation.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The State Officials and Employees Ethics Act is amended by changing Sections 20-90 and 20-95 as follows:

(5 ILCS 430/20-90)

Sec. 20-90. Confidentiality.

(a) The identity of any individual providing information or reporting any possible or alleged misconduct to an Executive Inspector General or the Executive Ethics Commission shall be kept confidential and may not be disclosed without the consent of that individual, unless the individual consents to disclosure of his or her name or disclosure of the individual's identity is otherwise required by law. The confidentiality granted by this subsection does not preclude the disclosure of the identity of a person in any capacity other than as the source of an allegation.

(b) Subject to the provisions of Section 20-52, commissioners, employees, and agents of the Executive Ethics Commission, the Executive Inspectors General, and employees and agents of each Office of an Executive Inspector General, the Attorney General, and the employees and agents of the office of the Attorney General, and the head and employees of a State agency affected by or involved in an investigation shall keep confidential and shall not disclose information exempted from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act or by this Act, provided the identity of any individual providing information or reporting any possible or alleged misconduct to the Executive Inspector General for the Governor may be disclosed to an Inspector General appointed or employed by a Regional Transit Board in accordance with Section 75-10.

(Source: P.A. 96-555, eff. 8-18-09; 96-1528, eff. 7-1-11.)

(5 ILCS 430/20-95)

Sec. 20-95. Exemptions.

(a) Documents generated by an ethics officer under this Act, except Section 5-50, are exempt from the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.

(b) Any allegations and related documents submitted to an Executive Inspector General and any pleadings and related documents brought before the Executive Ethics Commission are exempt from the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act so long as the Executive Ethics Commission does not make a finding of a violation of this Act. If the Executive Ethics Commission finds that a violation has occurred, the entire record of proceedings before the Commission, the decision and recommendation, and the response from the agency head or ultimate jurisdictional authority to the Executive Ethics Commission are not exempt from the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act but information contained therein that is otherwise exempt from the Freedom of Information Act must be redacted before disclosure as provided in the Freedom of Information Act. A summary report released by the Executive Ethics Commission under Section 20-52 is a public record, but information redacted by the Executive Ethics Commission shall not be part of the public record.

(c) Meetings of the Commission are exempt from the provisions of the Open Meetings Act.

(d) Unless otherwise provided in this Act, all investigatory files, and reports and requests for information of or by the Office of an Executive Inspector General, other than monthly reports required under Section 20-85, are confidential, are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, and shall not be divulged to any person or agency, except as necessary (i) to a law enforcement authority, (ii) to the ultimate jurisdictional authority, (iii) to the Executive Ethics Commission, (iv) to another Inspector General appointed pursuant to this Act, or (v) to an Inspector General appointed or employed by a Regional Transit Board in accordance with Section 75-10, or (vi) to the head of a State agency affected by or involved in the investigation.

(Source: P.A. 96-555, eff. 8-18-09; 96-1528, eff. 7-1-11.)