Local Government Law Bulletin
Appellate Court Rules That City Did Not Engage in the Unauthorized Practice of Law at Local Administrative Hearing
April 19, 2018 Late last year, the Illinois 1st District Appellate Court decided an appeal raised by an individual landowner (the “Owner”) arising from the City of Chicago’s Department of Administrative Hearings, seeking review of the decisions of the administrative...
Fourth PAC Decision of 2018
March 21, 2018 Earlier this month, the Illinois Attorney General issued its fourth opinion of 2018. In this opinion, the Attorney General’s office analyzed the use of the Freedom of Information Act’s trade secrets exemption (5 ILCS 140/7(1)(g)). The FOIA request at...
Illinois Attorney General Issues Third PAC Opinion of 2018
March 21, 2018 The Office of the Attorney General recently released Public Access Opinion 18-003, which looked at whether a municipality violated the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by failing to respond to a FOIA request. The FOIA request at issue sought individual...
Attorney General Releases First PAC Opinion of 2018
February 19, 2018 The Office of the Attorney General recently released Public Access Opinion 18-001, which looked at whether a municipality violated the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by redacting portions of an email sent by the Village President. A radio station...
Illinois Appellate Court Rules on PSEBA
February 19, 2018 An Illinois Appellate Court recently ruled on a case concerning the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act (the Act). The question before the court concerned the “unlawful act by another” provision under section 10(b) of the Act and how it related to a...
New Sexual Harassment Statute for Illinois Governmental Units
December 7, 2017 On November 16, Public Act 100-554 was signed by Governor Rauner and became effective immediately. Within P.A. 100-554 was an amendment to section 70-5 of the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. This amendment requires that within 60 days of the...
No Governmental Immunity for Cyclist’s Injury on Bike Path
December 5, 2017 The Illinois Supreme Court has redefined state law as to what is a qualified “trail” for purposes of the Local Government and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (“Tort Immunity Act”). The subject case, Corbett v. County of Lake, involved a...
Federal Appellate Court Rules Long-Term Leave of Absence Cannot Be a ‘Reasonable Accommodation’
November 1, 2017 In September 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that an employer was not required to accommodate an employee by granting him a multimonth leave after the employee’s 12 week FMLA leave expired. In the case of...
Illinois Attorney General Releases 11th Public Access Opinion of 2017
October 5, 2017 The Office of the Attorney General recently released Public Access Opinion 17-011, which looked at whether a 9-1-1 call is beyond the reach of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. A radio station sought to obtain two 9-1-1 recordings possessed...