Local Government Law Bulletin
Illinois Appellate Court Finds for City in Demolition Case
June 23, 2016 Recently, an Illinois appellate court dealt with an issue concerning a municipality’s ability to demolish structures that pose a nuisance. At issue was whether the municipality was required to give additional notice to a purchaser who had subsequently...
Mayor Emanuel’s Personal Electronic Device Raises Question of FOIA Disclosure
June 8, 2016 While the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) was revised significantly in 2009 in part to ensure that it kept pace with technological changes, the contours of how FOIA applies to electronic communication are still evolving. In particular,...
Impact of Increased Exempt Salary Minimum on Local Governments
June 8, 2016 The United States Department of Labor's proposed increase to the minimum salary thresholds for certain exempt employee classifications will become effective on Dec. 1, 2016. The most relevant change is that the exempt classifications for administrative...
First Amendment Challenge Comes Out of “Left Field” at Wrigley Field
May 27, 2016 The City of Chicago passed an ordinance prohibiting the peddling of any items on the sidewalks outside of Wrigley Field. The asserted purposes of the ordinance were to minimize pedestrian traffic overflowing into the streets and to prevent foot-traffic...
Illinois Appellate Court Upholds Vehicle Impoundment Fine
May 24, 2016 Recently, an Illinois Appellate Court upheld a municipality’s administrative impoundment fee as constitutional. Specifically, the municipality charged a $500 “administrative penalty” for vehicles that were subject to impoundment under the ordinance....
Lucas Museum Litigation Highlights Problems for All Levels of Government
May 12, 2016 The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is the brainchild of the one and only George Lucas, and was slated to be completed in 2019-2020 in Chicago’s Near South Side, just south of Soldier Field and adjacent to Burnham Harbor. And, it would be built primarily on...
Illinois Appellate Court Decides Case Concerning PSEBA
May 10, 2016 Recently, an Illinois Appellate Court decided a Public Safety Employee Benefits Act case (PSEBA). Specifically, a former police officer brought two counts against the Village seeking: a declaratory judgment that, because he suffered a catastrophic injury,...
Appellate Court Finds City Violated FOIA by Inappropriately Withholding Reports
April 29, 2016 A recent Illinois Appellate Court decision held that the City of Peoria violated Illinois's Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") after it refused to disclose a police officer’s special report that ultimately led to disciplinary adjudication. In asserting...
Severance Agreements Subject to FOIA Effective June 1, 2016
April 29, 2016 The Illinois Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) has explicitly required the disclosure of settlement agreements since 2010. Public Act 99-478, passed last fall, expands this explicit duty to produce settlement agreements to also include severance...