(a) Openness required. All meetings of public bodies shall be open to the public unless excepted in subsection (c) and closed in accordance with Section 2a.
     (b) Construction of exceptions. The exceptions contained in subsection (c) are in derogation of the requirement that public bodies meet in the open, and therefore, the exceptions are to be strictly construed, extending only to subjects clearly within their scope. The exceptions authorize but do not require the holding of a closed meeting to discuss a subject included within an enumerated exception.
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Terms Used In Illinois Compiled Statutes 5 ILCS 120/2

  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Germane: On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.
  • individual: shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 5 ILCS 70/1.36
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • State: when applied to different parts of the United States, may be construed to include the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" may be construed to include the said district and territories. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 5 ILCS 70/1.14
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
  • Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
  • United States: may be construed to include the said district and territories. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 5 ILCS 70/1.14

     (c) Exceptions. A public body may hold closed meetings to consider the following subjects:
         (1) The appointment, employment, compensation,
    
discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees, specific individuals who serve as independent contractors in a park, recreational, or educational setting, or specific volunteers of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee, a specific individual who serves as an independent contractor in a park, recreational, or educational setting, or a volunteer of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity. However, a meeting to consider an increase in compensation to a specific employee of a public body that is subject to the Local Government Wage Increase Transparency Act may not be closed and shall be open to the public and posted and held in accordance with this Act.
        (2) Collective negotiating matters between the public
    
body and its employees or their representatives, or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees.
        (3) The selection of a person to fill a public
    
office, as defined in this Act, including a vacancy in a public office, when the public body is given power to appoint under law or ordinance, or the discipline, performance or removal of the occupant of a public office, when the public body is given power to remove the occupant under law or ordinance.
        (4) Evidence or testimony presented in open hearing,
    
or in closed hearing where specifically authorized by law, to a quasi-adjudicative body, as defined in this Act, provided that the body prepares and makes available for public inspection a written decision setting forth its determinative reasoning.
        (4.5) Evidence or testimony presented to a school
    
board regarding denial of admission to school events or property pursuant to Section 24-24 of the School Code, provided that the school board prepares and makes available for public inspection a written decision setting forth its determinative reasoning.
        (5) The purchase or lease of real property for the
    
use of the public body, including meetings held for the purpose of discussing whether a particular parcel should be acquired.
        (6) The setting of a price for sale or lease of
    
property owned by the public body.
        (7) The sale or purchase of securities, investments,
    
or investment contracts. This exception shall not apply to the investment of assets or income of funds deposited into the Illinois Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund.
        (8) Security procedures, school building safety and
    
security, and the use of personnel and equipment to respond to an actual, a threatened, or a reasonably potential danger to the safety of employees, students, staff, the public, or public property.
        (9) Student disciplinary cases.
         (10) The placement of individual students in special
    
education programs and other matters relating to individual students.
        (11) Litigation, when an action against, affecting or
    
on behalf of the particular public body has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal, or when the public body finds that an action is probable or imminent, in which case the basis for the finding shall be recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed meeting.
        (12) The establishment of reserves or settlement of
    
claims as provided in the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, if otherwise the disposition of a claim or potential claim might be prejudiced, or the review or discussion of claims, loss or risk management information, records, data, advice or communications from or with respect to any insurer of the public body or any intergovernmental risk management association or self insurance pool of which the public body is a member.
        (13) Conciliation of complaints of discrimination in
    
the sale or rental of housing, when closed meetings are authorized by the law or ordinance prescribing fair housing practices and creating a commission or administrative agency for their enforcement.
        (14) Informant sources, the hiring or assignment of
    
undercover personnel or equipment, or ongoing, prior or future criminal investigations, when discussed by a public body with criminal investigatory responsibilities.
        (15) Professional ethics or performance when
    
considered by an advisory body appointed to advise a licensing or regulatory agency on matters germane to the advisory body’s field of competence.
        (16) Self evaluation, practices and procedures or
    
professional ethics, when meeting with a representative of a statewide association of which the public body is a member.
        (17) The recruitment, credentialing, discipline or
    
formal peer review of physicians or other health care professionals, or for the discussion of matters protected under the federal Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005, and the regulations promulgated thereunder, including 42 C.F.R. part 3 (73 FR 70732), or the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, and the regulations promulgated thereunder, including 45 C.F.R. Parts 160, 162, and 164, by a hospital, or other institution providing medical care, that is operated by the public body.
        (18) Deliberations for decisions of the Prisoner
    
Review Board.
        (19) Review or discussion of applications received
    
under the Experimental Organ Transplantation Procedures Act.
        (20) The classification and discussion of matters
    
classified as confidential or continued confidential by the State Government Suggestion Award Board.
        (21) Discussion of minutes of meetings lawfully
    
closed under this Act, whether for purposes of approval by the body of the minutes or semi-annual review of the minutes as mandated by Section 2.06.
        (22) Deliberations for decisions of the State
    
Emergency Medical Services Disciplinary Review Board.
        (23) The operation by a municipality of a municipal
    
utility or the operation of a municipal power agency or municipal natural gas agency when the discussion involves (i) contracts relating to the purchase, sale, or delivery of electricity or natural gas or (ii) the results or conclusions of load forecast studies.
        (24) Meetings of a residential health care facility
    
resident sexual assault and death review team or the Executive Council under the Abuse Prevention Review Team Act.
        (25) Meetings of an independent team of experts under
    
Brian’s Law.
        (26) Meetings of a mortality review team appointed
    
under the Department of Juvenile Justice Mortality Review Team Act.
        (27) (Blank).
         (28) Correspondence and records (i) that may not be
    
disclosed under § 11-9 of the Illinois Public Aid Code or (ii) that pertain to appeals under § 11-8 of the Illinois Public Aid Code.
        (29) Meetings between internal or external auditors
    
and governmental audit committees, finance committees, and their equivalents, when the discussion involves internal control weaknesses, identification of potential fraud risk areas, known or suspected frauds, and fraud interviews conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards of the United States of America.
        (30) Those meetings or portions of meetings of a
    
fatality review team or the Illinois Fatality Review Team Advisory Council during which a review of the death of an eligible adult in which abuse or neglect is suspected, alleged, or substantiated is conducted pursuant to § 15 of the Adult Protective Services Act.
        (31) Meetings and deliberations for decisions of the
    
Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act.
        (32) Meetings between the Regional Transportation
    
Authority Board and its Service Boards when the discussion involves review by the Regional Transportation Authority Board of employment contracts under Section 28d of the Metropolitan Transit Authority Act and Sections 3A.18 and 3B.26 of the Regional Transportation Authority Act.
        (33) Those meetings or portions of meetings of the
    
advisory committee and peer review subcommittee created under Section 320 of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act during which specific controlled substance prescriber, dispenser, or patient information is discussed.
        (34) Meetings of the Tax Increment Financing Reform
    
Task Force under Section 2505-800 of the Department of Revenue Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois.
        (35) Meetings of the group established to discuss
    
Medicaid capitation rates under § 5-30.8 of the Illinois Public Aid Code.
        (36) Those deliberations or portions of deliberations
    
for decisions of the Illinois Gaming Board in which there is discussed any of the following: (i) personal, commercial, financial, or other information obtained from any source that is privileged, proprietary, confidential, or a trade secret; or (ii) information specifically exempted from the disclosure by federal or State law.
        (37) Deliberations for decisions of the Illinois Law
    
Enforcement Training Standards Board, the Certification Review Panel, and the Illinois State Police Merit Board regarding certification and decertification.
        (38) Meetings of the Ad Hoc Statewide Domestic
    
Violence Fatality Review Committee of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority Board that occur in closed executive session under subsection (d) of § 35 of the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Act.
        (39) Meetings of the regional review teams under
    
        (40) Meetings of the Firearm Owner’s Identification
    
    (d) Definitions. For purposes of this Section:
     “Employee” means a person employed by a public body whose relationship with the public body constitutes an employer-employee relationship under the usual common law rules, and who is not an independent contractor.
     “Public office” means a position created by or under the Constitution or laws of this State, the occupant of which is charged with the exercise of some portion of the sovereign power of this State. The term “public office” shall include members of the public body, but it shall not include organizational positions filled by members thereof, whether established by law or by a public body itself, that exist to assist the body in the conduct of its business.
     “Quasi-adjudicative body” means an administrative body charged by law or ordinance with the responsibility to conduct hearings, receive evidence or testimony and make determinations based thereon, but does not include local electoral boards when such bodies are considering petition challenges.
     (e) Final action. No final action may be taken at a closed meeting. Final action shall be preceded by a public recital of the nature of the matter being considered and other information that will inform the public of the business being conducted.
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