Local Government Law Bulletin
Phone in a Search Warrant?
The Illinois House recently passed a bill, which if approved, will allow police to obtain search warrants from a judge by phone and electronic transmission. Specifically, the bill calls for the amendment of 725 ILCS 5/108-4(c) (“Issuance of Search Warrant”) to allow...
Phone First: Obtain a Search Warrant Prior to Searching a Defendant’s Cell Phone
The recent Supreme Court decision Riley v. California involved two defendants, in separate incidents, who had their cell phones seized and searched post-arrest. Defendant Riley was stopped for a traffic violation, and his cell phone was seized from his pants’ pocket...
Pending Lawsuit Raises Issue Whether Public Comments Must Be Allowed in All Public Meetings under OMA
Commissioners of the Clark County Park District were recently named as defendants in a lawsuit for allegedly failing to allow a public comment during a special meeting. The special meeting was called exclusively to discuss the performance evaluation of the district’s...
Join ZRFM at Sept. 18-20 Illinois Municipal League Conference
ZRFM is pleased to announce we will conduct several presentations and host a booth at this year’s IML Conference Sept. 18-20 at the Hilton Chicago Hotel. Please note that the conference is about a month earlier than in past years. The following presentations include...
Municipality Not Required to Follow Police Pension Board’s Funding Recommendation
The Village of Riverdale prevailed in a challenge against it for the Village’s admitted failure to follow the Police Pension Board’s recommendation for funding the police pension. The First District Appellate Court construed sections of the Pension Code to determine...
FOIA Above All
The Public Access Counselor recently released a binding opinion holding that settlement agreements entered into by units of local government that contain confidentiality or non-disclosure provisions are subject to FOIA, despite the confidentiality and/or...
Seventh Circuit Divided on Municipal Booking and Bail Fees
We have previously reported on administrative tow fees which police departments are entitled to charge by statute. Municipal police departments are also able to obtain restitution for responding to emergencies caused by drunk drivers. In a similar attempt to recoup...
FOIA Legislation Vetoed by Governor Quinn
In a recent issue of our newsletter, we described a proposed amendment to the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) that might have helped to ease the burden on local governments when responding to some types of FOIA requests. Governor Quinn vetoed the proposed...
Recent Proposed Amendment to Freedom of Information Act May Help Moderately Ease Burden on Local Governments
At the end of May 2014, the Illinois legislature passed a bill amending the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA” or the “Act”) in some potentially meaningful ways by reducing the obligation to produce documents already available on a public body’s website and by...