Local Government Law Bulletin
Police Departments Required to Adopt Additional Policies for Officer-Involved Shootings
September 20, 2017 Recent changes went into effect for the Police and Community Relations Improvement Act (“Act”). The Act originally went into effect in 2016 and requires all law enforcement agencies to have a written policy addressing investigations into...
Prevailing Wage Amendment Brings a Taste of the 21st Century to the Act
September 1, 2017 On August 18, 2017, Governor Rauner approved a bill that offers a minor but sensible modification to the Prevailing Wage Act. Public Act 100-0154 amends Section 9 of the Prevailing Wage Act that applies to those public bodies that use the Department...
Like It or Not, Driverless Vehicles Are Coming to a Municipality Near You
September 1, 2017 Last month, Governor Rauner approved a bill concerning local government regulation of “Automated Driving Systems equipped vehicles” (i.e. driverless cars). As driverless vehicles are no longer mere science fiction, the Illinois Legislature has made a...
New Laws Seek to Consolidate Units of Local Government
August 15, 2017 Governor Rauner signed into law amendments to various existing laws that are intended to expand the consolidation of various units of local government. Part of the legislation expands the Local Government Reduction and Efficiency Division of the...
New Law Creates Additional FOIA Exemptions
August 14, 2017 Earlier this month, Governor Rauner approved a bill creating additional exemptions under Illinois’s Freedom of Information Act. Public Act 100-0026 creates three new exemptions which allow public bodies to deny FOIA requests sent by incarcerated...
Illinois Attorney General Issues Two Binding Decisions Concerning FOIA
July 24, 2017 This month, the Attorney General’s Office released two binding Public Access Opinions concerning Illinois’s Freedom of Information Act. Specifically, both opinions (the eighth and ninth of 2017) concern a public body’s duty to respond to FOIA requests....
Case Upholds Ordinance Prohibiting Unregistered Vehicles on Private Property
July 24, 2017 In mid-July, the Second Appellate Court upheld the Village of Round Lake Beach’s ordinance which provides: “It shall be unlawful to store any vehicle upon open private land unless such vehicle shall be duly registered for operation on public highways in...
Appellate Court Rules No Issue of Material Fact Regarding Municipality’s Immunity from Liability
June 22, 2017 Recently, the 4th District Appellate Court, in Monson v. City of Danville, 2017 Il App (4th) 160593, upheld a trial court’s granting of summary judgment, finding that no issue of material fact existed, regarding whether a local government employee was...
Illinois Attorney General Issues Three More Public Access Opinions
June 22, 2017 This month, the Illinois Attorney General issued three binding Public Access Opinions concerning both Illinois’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Open Meetings Act (OMA). Public Access Opinion 17-004 In issuing its fourth binding Public Access...