Ancel Glink Diamond Bush DiCianni & Krafthefer, P.C.

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Latest from Ancel Glink Diamond Bush DiCianni & Krafthefer, P.C.

As we continue to provide updates on new bills signed into law by the Governor, today we will discuss two laws concerning open meetings. P.A. 102-0348 enacted the Empowering Public Participation Act to restrict when law enforcement agencies or officers can conduct background checks on speakers at a meeting of a public body. The Act provides: A law enforcement agency or an officer employed by a law enforcement agency may not knowingly and intentionally conduct a background check of a person for the sole reason of that person speaking at an open meeting of a public body, including police disciplinary…
A regular reader sent us a copy of the most recent PAC binding opinion – as many of you know, the Attorney General’s website is still not fully operational so the public still cannot access any of the binding opinions issued by the Public Access Counselor. Earlier this year, a reporter submitted a FOIA request to the Office of the Mayor of the City of Chicago seeking text messages sent or received by Mayor Lightfoot regarding conversations between Mayor Lightfoot and certain hospital personnel on their personal or city-issued devices. Although the Mayor’s Office properly extended the time to respond…
This post contains another edition of our legislative updates from the most recent Illinois General Assembly session in Springfield. This post focuses on laws that impact general governance.  P.A. 102-0024 provides that a county, township, or municipality may waive any fees or costs associated with a permit, inspection, or certification of occupancy required by law for construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, movement to another site, removal, or demolition of multiple structures within their jurisdiction. These waivers (provided under the local government’s discretion) are limited to disastrous circumstances or the threat of disaster, including fire, flood, earthquake, storm, water contamination, blight, rioting,…
As we noted last week, we are going to be reporting on a number of new laws that have taken effect or will take effect soon over the next couple of weeks. Today, we report on two election-related laws. P.A. 102-0001 provides resources to election authorities for conducting secure elections. First, the Act provides that any federal funds received by the Illinois State Board of Elections under the Help America Vote Act that are not otherwise used in the course of a federal election can be available to election authorities to maintain secure collection sites for vote by mail ballots. Second,…
Governor Pritzker recently signed into law several new laws that affect local governments and we will report on these over a few blog posts. Below is a summary of laws that affect (1) COVID-19 affordable housing; (2) community college housing; (3) liquor; and (4) lemonade stands. COVID -19 Affordable Housing P.A. 102-0175 provides COVID-19 relief funds to address shortages in affordable housing. The bill creates the COVID-19 Affordable Housing Grant Program Act and amends the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act, the Illinois Housing Development Act, and the Illinois Income Tax Act. Perhaps most notable is the Act’s preemption of…
We celebrated a 10 year anniversary with Municipal Minute last week and this week, and today we “celebrate” another episode of our Quorum Forum podcast, Episode 56: Vaccine Mandates. In this episode, Ancel Glink attorneys discuss what FDA approval of the first COVID-19 vaccine means for employers considering vaccine mandates. This episode also discussses recent tort immunity cases local governments should know to avoid liability from lawsuits.  Email your questions to podcast@ancelglink.com         Related Stories Governor Updates Previous Face Covering and Vaccination Executive Order Check out the Employment Law Articles on Workplace Report FAQ for Conducting Remote Meetings  …
It seems that almost as soon as we post something about new COVID-19 guidance, that guidance has changed. But, we did want to update you on a recent Executive Order issued by the Governor that extends the time-frame for the new vaccine mandates for certain Illinois workers, including healthcare workers, school personnel, and higher education personnel. In Executive Order 2021-22, the Governor updated EO 2021-20 which had set a deadline for vaccine compliance for a first shot of September 5, 2021. The deadline for covered workers to get the first shot is now September 19, 2021. This new vaccine…
Believe it or not, it’s been 10 years since I started the Municipal Minute blog! That’s right, 10 years ago, I spent my Labor Day weekend designing and compiling material to post on this blog, never thinking that I’d still be doing this 10 years later and certainly not envisioning that we would write and post nearly 2,000 separate posts (1,951 as of today).  Since that first post, we’ve been updating local government officials and employees on new laws, bills, and cases, as well as recent developments they may find of interest in their service to local government. It hasn’t…
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The FDA approved the first COVID-19 vaccine and Ancel Glink’s Mike Halpin joins us to discuss what that means for employers considering vaccine mandates. Then, Andrew Scott tells about recent tort immunity cases local governments should know to avoid liability from lawsuits. Email your questions about immunity from COVID-19 or immunity from lawsuits to podcast@ancelglink.com! —Resources— Workplace Report EEOC Offers Long-Awaited Guidance on Vaccinationsworkplacereport.ancelglink.com/2021/06/e…e-on.html Federal Court Upholds Employer Mandate for the COVID-19 Vaccineworkplacereport.ancelglink.com/2021/06/f…date.html Municipal Minute Illinois Appellate Court Rules on Tort Immunity Casemunicipalminute.ancelglink.com/2021/01/i…tort.html County Dispatch Services Protected by Tort Immunity Actmunicipalminute.ancelglink.com/2020/12/c…d-by.html —Credits— Producer: Daniel J.…
We have previously reported on Municipal Minute about the employment-law related information reported on Ancel Glink’s Workplace Report blog, but wanted to remind our new readers of this resource. We have provided a sampling of recent posts below that may be of interest to our readers. You can click on the title to go to the Workplace Report and read the entire article. New Masking Mandates and Vaccination Supreme Court Upholds Indiana University COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate Illinois Appellate Court Rules on Transgender Bathroom Policy Workers’ Rights Constitutional Rights to be on November 22, 2002 Ballot Illinois General Assembly Legislative Update…
In 2017, Marcos Rodriguez was involved in a minor traffic accident while driving with a blood alcohol concentration of at least 0.24. A police officer responded to the accident and allowed Rodriguez to drive away. According to Rodriguez’s lawsuit against the village and police officer, the officer did not investigate whether Rodriguez was under the influence of alcohol. Rodriguez also did not inform the officer he had been drinking. A few minutes later, Rodriguez sustained injuries in a second accident after he fell asleep at the wheel, left the roadway and struck a utility pole, and sued the village and…
The City of Chicago’s Office of the City Clerk received a FOIA request seeking letters of exception for residential parking in the City’s 45th Ward. In response, the City Clerk’s Office released the responsive letters but redacted certain information based on FOIA’s private and personal information exemptions, including the names of persons that had been issued “exceptions” to the City’s residential parking requirements. The requestor then submitted a request for review with the Public Access Counselor (PAC) challenging the partial denial. In binding PAC Opinion 21-007, the PAC concluded that the City Clerk’s Office violated FOIA when it improperly…
Thanks again to one of our readers who shared another binding PAC opinion – let’s hope the PAC can get its website up and running again soon as it’s been a long time since we’ve been able to access the binding opinions (and for members of public bodies that need to access the online OMA training).  In PAC Op. 21-006, the PAC found a public body in violation of the Open Meetings Act for failing to record its closed session. According to the PAC’s opinion, the district employee who usually took the minutes and kept the recordings for district…
In 2014, Marvin Williams submitted a FOIA request to the Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s Office seeking certain grand jury records, including “no-bills” and “true bills” of indictment and the grand jury deliberations and votes regarding a criminal case involving Mr. Williams. The State’s Attorney’s Office denied the request, claiming the records were exempt under Section 7(1)(a) of FOIA, because the records were expressly prohibited from disclosure by a state law that governs the secrecy of grand jury proceedings and limits the disclosure of grand jury documents. Williams then sued the States Attorney’s Office, claiming they violated FOIA. The trial court…
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and case counts increase, more public bodies are discussing whether they should go back to remote meetings. We thought it might be helpful to provide a brief “FAQ” to provide information on some of the most commonly asked questions about remote meetings. Note that because the COVID-19 pandemic (and the Governor’s actions) remain very fluid, you should always consult with your legal counsel if you have questions about a meeting of your particular board, council, commission or committee. Q1: Even though the Governor’s executive order relaxing the OMA in-person requirements expired last month, can our…
We don’t see a lot of zoning cases in the appellate courts, so a recent case involving a special use caught our interest. Pumilia v. City of Rockford. In 2018, Pumilia purchased a property in Rockford that had previously been used for a used car dealership, intending to operate a similar business on the lot. He bought the property, obtained insurance, improved the parking lot, and ordered signs for the new business. When the sign company filed an application for a sign permit with the City, it triggered a City zoning review. Shortly thereafter, the City informed Pumilia that the…