Illinois Legislature Exempts Self from Open Records Review
ICPR Senior Adviser David Melton is quoted in this article
via Washington Times
“SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – When Illinois lawmakers revamped the Freedom of Information Act in 2009 and created an outside appeals process for public records requests denied by state government, they made an important exception – themselves.
Records requests denied by the General Assembly are not subject to review by the attorney general’s public access counselor, the counselor’s office said in a letter this week to The Associated Press.
That exception for the Legislature means that even as Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner routinely discloses his appointment calendars in response to AP requests, the leaders of the Legislature could deny a similar AP request for their calendars and emails – with no right of appeal. Democratic Speaker Michael Madigan – who has been in that post for more than 30 years – doesn’t even keep a calendar or use email, his spokesman Steve Brown said.”
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