A law firm submitted a FOIA request seeking copies of
911 call recordings and other records related to a traffic crash, and the public body
disclosed responsive 911 recordings, but redacted the callers’ names and phone numbers. After the requestor submitted a request for review
with the PAC challenging the redactions, the public body disclosed the names of the callers, but
maintained that the home and personal phone numbers of the callers was exempt from disclosure under the “private
information” exemption in FOIA. The PAC agreed with the public body and issued a binding opinion finding that the public body properly…
Continue Reading Public Body Properly Redacted 911 Callers’ Phone Numbers in PAC Opinion

An Illinois Appellate Court issued a ruling in favor of a Village in a longstanding dispute over a commercial horse boarding operation in Drury et al. v. Village of Barrington Hills, et al.A property owner filed suit against the Village and his neighboring property owner to challenge the constitutionality of a zoning approval ordinance that allowed a horse boarding operation on his neighbor’s property. The lawsuit claimed that the ordinance was unconstitutional because it did not benefit the “public welfare” but instead was intended to personally benefit his neighbor. The trial court upheld the zoning ordinance finding that it…
Continue Reading In the Zone: Court Upholds Constitutionality of Horse Boarding Zoning Ordinance

In March, we reported
on two opinions issued by the U.S. Supreme Court in cases involving First Amendment
challenges to government officials’ use of social media on their personal social media accounts, including Lindke v.
Freed. In Lindke, the Supreme Court announced a two-part test
for establishing that an official’s actions on their personal social media acounts can be attributed to the government
(and subject to First Amendment limitations. In order to show that an
official’s social media activity on the official’s personal social media account is subject to the First
Amendment, it must be shown that the…
Continue Reading Court of Appeals Weighs in On Recent First Amendment Decision Issued by U.S. Supreme Court

The BGA submitted a FOIA request to City Colleges of Chicago
(College) seeking various education records related to their 2018 graduation
rate. The College withheld its responsive records citing Section
7(1)(a) of FOIA, claiming that the educational records contained personally
identifying student information (PII) that was prohibited from disclosure by
the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) without the
consent of the students, their parents, or guardians. The BGA sued the College alleging that its response violated FOIA, and the circuit court ruled in favor of
BGA, finding that FERPA did not “specifically prohibit” the disclosure of…
Continue Reading Court Finds in Favor of College that Protected Personal Information of Students from FOIA Release

In response to a FOIA request seeking a case report and
related records for an incident, a municipal police department withheld responsive records from disclosure citing Section 7(1)(d)(i) of FOIA,
which exempts records that would interfere with a pending or actually and
reasonably contemplated law enforcement proceedings conducted by any law
enforcement. The requestor then appealed the denial to the Public Access Counselor of the Attorney General’s office (PAC). In PAC Op. 24-011, the PAC issued a binding opinion concluding that the
police department violated FOIA by entirely withholding its responsive records.
Specifically, the PAC noted that the case report…
Continue Reading PAC Finds Police Department in Violation of FOIA for Withholding Police Report

It’s that time of year again: the
2024 APA-IL
State Conference is next week, from September 25–27, at the I Hotel and
Illinois Conference Center in Champaign, Illinois. The Conference program is
packed with great sessions and events, including several noteworthy
presentations from Ancel Glink attorneys: 

• Join attorney Dan Bolin on Wednesday,
  September 25 at 9:45 AM, at GovLove x APA-IL: Award-Winning Planners,
  for a discussion of notable contributions to the planning field that have been
  recognized for achievements in building safer, stronger, and more equitable
  communities.

• Also at 9:45 AM on Wednesday, attorney Tyler Smith will be
  presenting

…
Continue Reading In the Zone: Join Us at the 2024 APA-IL State Conference

In Schittino
v. Village of Niles, an Illinois Appellate Court invalidated a referendum that had attempted to change the manner of selection of a municipal board of ethics from an appointed board to an elected one.
A home-rule municipality adopted an ordinance to establish an appointed board of ethics. In 2019, voters initiated a
referendum to replace the appointed ethics board with an elected one. The referendum
was delayed in litigation as the village clerk refused to certify the
referendum, believing it was unauthorized by the Illinois Constitution. In 2021, an Illinois Appellate Court held that the clerk’s role under…
Continue Reading Referendum Could Not Change "Manner of Selection" of Municipal Board of Ethics

An Illinois Appellate Court ruled in favor of a Village in a
bike injury case in Johnson
v. Village of Palatine. In
June 2020, a cyclist was riding his bicycle on a sidewalk adjacent to a
high-traffic street. While riding his bike, the cyclist struck an uneven
section of the sidewalk, and fell and was injured. He sued the Village,
claiming the Village owed him a duty of care to maintain or repair the sidewalk,
which he claimed the Village negligently failed to do, leaving it dangerous and
unsafe for use.The Village asserted the following defenses against the
lawsuit:
Continue Reading Village Owed No Duty of Care to Bicyclist Injured on Sidewalk

Effective
on August 9, 2024, Illinois Governor Pritzker signed SB 1960 into law as Public
Act 103-0899, which amends the Illinois Vehicle Code to add provisions
regarding low-speed electric scooters.
The new law defines a low-speed electric scooter as follows:A device weighing less than 100 pounds, with 2 or 3 wheels, handlebars, and a floorboard that can be stood upon while riding, that is solely powered by an electric motor and human power, and whose maximum speed, with or without human propulsion, is no more than 10 miles per hour. “Low-speed electric scooter” does not include a moped or motor-driving…
Continue Reading New Illinois Law Regulates Low-Speed Electric Scooters

The Public Access Counselor of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office issued its 10th binding opinion of 2024 in PAC Op. 24-010, finding a Village Board in violation of the Open Meetings Act for failing to make its meetings open and convenient to the public.Multiple requests for review were filed against a Village relating to meetings held in June and July of 2024. Specific complaints included allegations that there was insufficient space in the meeting room for members of the public who wanted to attend and many were turned away from each of these meetings because of limited seating capacity,,…
Continue Reading PAC Finds Village Board Meetings Were Not Open or Convenient Under OMA

With
municipalities across Illinois set to elect new local officers at the 2025
Consolidated Elections, an overview of the lesser-known nomination method of
municipal caucuses may be helpful for smaller municipalities. Note that the overview discussed below applies to official caucus nomination methods established by statute, and not the informal “caucus” political party nomination process that is used in some municipalities. If you are not sure which system your municipality must follow, please consult with your legal counsel.Illinois
municipalities administer either partisan elections (where candidates are
nominated and elected from political parties) or nonpartisan elections (where
candidates are nominated and…
Continue Reading Municipal Caucus Overview for the 2025 Consolidated Election

The Seventh Circuit Court of
Appeals recently issued an opinion upholding municipal sign regulations
against a First Amendment challenge brought by a billboard company. GEFT
Outdoor, LLC v. City of Evansville, Indiana.
A City in Indiana had enacted sign regulations that distinguish between on-premises signs and
off-premises signs. In a lawsuit that spanned several years and included
various arguments under the First Amendment, these regulations were challenged
by a billboard company on various grounds, including that: (1) the distinction between on- and
off-premises signs in the City’s sign code was an unconstitutional content-based classification; (2)
the City’s criteria for…
Continue Reading In the Zone: Seventh Circuit Rejects Challenge to Local Sign Regulations