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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Posts
    104

    Default How to Obtain Closed Records from a Unit of Government

    This is for IL,
    I was told by City Council that all records prior to 1990 are closed as the council voted them closed in 1990. Therefore, a FOIA request will only get me open council minutes. I realize that votes after the closed session "should" show up in open session.
    Question: Is what they did legal?
    2. If we go into litigation with this body - could a lawyer request the closed records through the courts. It would stand to reason that if the government agency had closed session minutes that supported their claim of ownership of our building they would produce them. It would stand to reason that they would not show us close session minutes that support our claim of ownership unless required to.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    19,901

    Default Re: Foia Rules, Can These Records Be Closed Il

    FOIA defers the point to the Illinois Public Meetings Act. If the closing of the meetings was valid under that act, then FOIA says they can deny reporting those.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Posts
    8,238

    Default Re: How to Obtain Closed Records from a Unit of Government

    I assume that you mean the records you seek are records from the closed sessions of a public body. There are a number of exemptions to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 ILCS 140. Section 7(l) exempts from disclosure “Minutes of meetings of public bodies closed to the public as provided in the Open Meetings Act until the public body makes the minutes available to the public under Section 2.06 of the Open Meetings Act.” Thus, as flyingron notes, if the sessions were properly closed under the Illinois Open Meetings Act then it is proper for the council to deny you those records in a FOIA request.

    Even though they cannot be obtained in a FOIA request they may be obtained in discovery in a lawsuit against the city if those records are relevant to some issue in the lawsuit. See an Illinois civil litigation attorney about that.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Posts
    104

    Default Re: How to Obtain Closed Records from a Unit of Government

    Thank you. I guess my concern, was the "blanket", all closed minutes before 1990 were to remain closed. It appears as if now days Council votes on whether certain minutes should remain closed at each council mtg. But, if an attorney could ask & receive those minutes that will solve that. Since although closed - the OpposingCouncil attorney would have access to all those records.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    7,056

    Default Re: How to Obtain Closed Records from a Unit of Government

    The state of affairs that you describe is not that unusual in that before the open public meetings acts, that were passed by virtually every state, governing boards could do as they pleased. They could and did included all matter of subjects that they discussed behind closed doors. It could have been financial, about personal, litigation (pending or actual), or even political.

    But now, under the various acts, they can only discuss specific matters and depending on the disposition of those matters, they have to disclose the minutes to the public. They are not closed in perpetuity except for certain personal and disciplinary matters as a general rule.

    Today, as you put it, they do not get to vote on what minutes will be closed. What they can do is to determine what subjects (allowed by their state's law) they will discuss in closed sessions. And those minutes will not be available to the public until the matter is resolved, or their release is governed by the open public meetings acts or the document retention laws of their states. Minutes of governing bodies are retained in perpetuity in some form.

    I previously posted (in your other thread) that the council could discuses the matter of leasing you the property in closed session. But they could not take any action on the subject in closed session. That is if it happened after the passage of the OPMA. After the passage of the Act, that would have had to happen at a public meeting.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Posts
    104

    Default Re: How to Obtain Closed Records from a Unit of Government

    This all happen before OPMA, so information would not be available to me, but might be under Discovery for the lawyer when we go to court. I suppose all correspondence and other documents could also be kept "closed" regarding this issue and not available to me through FOIA? Hopefully the lawyer could get it.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    OH10
    Posts
    17,019

    Default Re: How to Obtain Closed Records from a Unit of Government

    Try the recorders office for a copy of the paperwork used to take the building.

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