Local Government Law Bulletin
Liquor Licenses Can Be Granted Near Churches, Schools
August 8, 2018 On August 2, 2018, SB2436 became law, allowing liquor commissioners to grant liquor licenses to establishments within 100 feet of schools, churches, and certain other buildings. Please note that the local liquor code must expressly allow for the liquor...
Illinois Appellate Court Clarifies FOIA Undue Burden Exception
July 31, 2018 In a July 2018 ruling, an Illinois appellate court clarified the requirements for claiming a section 3(g) undue burden exception under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The case involved a FOIA request for various pieces of non-personal...
Property Index Numbers Not Excludable Under FOIA
In June 2018, the Office of the Attorney General published Public Access Opinion 18-009 which emphasized that property index numbers were not exempt from disclosure under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Attorney General (AG) published this opinion...
Governor Set to Sign Legislation Expanding Employee Background Checks
July 25, 2018 On May 25, 2018, the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 2907 and on June 22 sent it to Governor Bruce Rauner where it awaits his signature. The bill, which amends the current Criminal Identification Act, would allow agencies in Illinois that can either...
Attorney General Issues 5th PAC Opinion of 2018
June 18, 2018 In March 2018, the Office of the Attorney General published Public Access Opinion 18-005 which clarified the standard public bodies must meet when claiming certain employee information is exempt from disclosure under the Illinois Freedom of Information...
Proposed Bill Would Amend Liquor Control Act
Late last month, the Illinois General Assembly passed a bill concerning the prohibition against granting liquor licenses within 100 feet of a church, school, and various other locations. If approved by the Governor, the law would allow an exemption to this general...
Illinois Appellate Court Issues Opinion on Admissibility of Radar Device Reading
In April 2018, the Illinois Second District Appellate Court decided an appeal raised by a defendant motorist arising from a speeding ticket in Algonquin. The trial court found defendant guilty of the charge of speeding as set forth in the Village’s municipal code. The...
Illinois Appellate Court Decides a Case Concerning FOIA
May 8, 2018 Last month, Illinois’s Fourth District Appellate Court issued an opinion concerning the Freedom of Information Act and what constitutes a “public body” under the Act. The request at issue sought records of the city’s Housing Task Force (“HTF”)....
Governor Signs Bill Regulating Small Cell Devices
April 19, 2018 After long negotiations and discussions in Springfield, Gov. Rauner last week signed Public Act 100-0585 into law as the Small Wireless Facilities Deployment Act (the “Act”). This new law is designed to regulate the deployment of small cell devices in...