Bill > HB2887

This bill amends the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to modify the definition and treatment of "recurrent requesters" - individuals who submit a high volume of public records requests. Specifically, the bill reduces the thresholds for being classified as a recurrent requester from 50 to 40 requests in 12 months, from 15 to 10 requests in a 30-day period, and from 7 to 5 requests in a 7-day period. The bill extends the response time for public bodies when dealing with recurrent requesters from 21 to 30 business days and specifies that notice of recurrent requester status only needs to be provided once every 30 days. Additionally, the bill introduces a new provision making it a violation of the Act for designated recurrent requesters to knowingly obtain public records without disclosing their status. These changes aim to balance the public's right to access information with the administrative burden on public bodies caused by frequent, extensive record requests. The bill maintains existing exemptions for news media, non-profit, scientific, and academic organizations when their requests are primarily for informational, research, or educational purposes.

Government Affairs

https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=2887&GAID=18&DocTypeID=HB&SessionID=114&GA=104