Access to Closed Meeting Minutes Duplicate this section for each grant of access to closed meeting minutes. Date: Time: Storage Location: Name of person(s) responsible for storing the closed meeting minutes: Access granted Date access occurred: Start time: Requesting Board member's name (Please print) In the presence of: (Check appropriate box and insert name on line.) Records secretary Administrative official of the public body Any elected official of the public body For requesting Board member: (Read the following and sign below.) While the Open Meetings Act does not provide a cause of action against me or the Board for disclosing closed session discussions (Xxxxxxx v. Board of Police Commissioners, 555 N.E. 2d 35 (1990)), I acknowledge and understand that any disclosures by me of information in the closed session minutes not yet released to the public could subject me to a possible civil action alleging that I created harm to another, i.e., an intentional tort(s). Requesting Board Member Signature Date Verbatim Recording Access Duplicate this section for each grant of access to verbatim recordings. Date: Time: Storage Location: Name of person(s) responsible for storing the verbatim recording: Access granted Date access occurred: Start time: End time: Requesting Board member's name (Please print) In the presence of: (Check appropriate box and insert name on line.) Records secretary Administrative official of the public body Any elected official of the public body Access denied Access unavailable. Xxxxxxxx recording requested is older than 18 months and was destroyed pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2.06(c). For requesting Board member: (Read the following and sign below.) While the Open Meetings Act does not provide a cause of action against me or the Board for disclosing closed session discussions (Xxxxxxx v. Board of Police Commissioners, 555 N.E. 2d 35 (1990)), I acknowledge and understand that any disclosures by me of information in the verbatim recordings could subject me to a possible civil action alleging that I created harm to another, i.e., an intentional tort(s). Requesting Board Member Signature Date DATED:January 18, 2017 Midstate Special Education Coop 2:220-E8 Exhibit - Governing Board Records Maintenance Requirements and FAQs Open Meetings Act The Open Meetings Act (OMA) requires public bodies to "keep written minutes of all their meetings, whether open or closed, and a verbatim record of all their closed meetings in the form of an audio or video recording." 5 ILCS 120/2.06(a). Minutes must include, but are not limited to: (1) the date, time, and place of the meeting; (2) the members of the public body recorded as either present or absent and whether the members were physically present or present by means of video or audio conference; and (3) a summary of discussion on all matters proposed, deliberated, or decided, and record of any votes taken. Id. The remainder of Section 2.06 addresses the approval of open meeting minutes, the treatment of verbatim recordings of closed meetings, the semi-annual review of closed meeting minutes, the confidential nature of closed meeting minutes, and the right of persons to address public officials under rules established and recorded by the public body. The requirements of Section 2.06, as well as OMA requirements pertaining to Board agendas, are included in policy 2:220, School Board Meeting Procedure. Exhibit 2:220-E3, Closed Meeting Minutes, provides a sample template for keeping closed meeting minutes that incorporates the requirements of Section 2.06 of OMA. It also includes an area to designate if the Board has determined, pursuant to Section 2.06(d), that the closed meeting minutes no longer need confidential treatment. Exhibit 2:220-E4, Open Meeting Minutes, contains an open meeting minute's protocol that incorporates the requirements of Section 2.06 of OMA. It also provides a sample template for keeping open meeting minutes. Exhibit 2:220-E5, Semi-Annual Reviewof Closed Meeting Minutes, contains a process for implementing the semi-annual review of closed meeting minutes, and exhibit 2:220-E6, Log of Closed Meeting Minutes, is designed to facilitate this semi-annual review. Local Records Act The Local Records Act (LRA) provides that public records, including "any book, paper, map, photograph, digitized electronic material, or other official documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made, produced, executed or received by any agency or officer pursuant to law or in connections with the transaction of public business and preserved or appropriate for preservation by such agency or officer" must be preserved unless the State Local Records Commission has given permission to destroy those records. 50 ILCS 205/3 and 7. Board records, including agendas, meeting packets and meeting minutes, fall into this definition. Public bodies located in Cook County must work with the Local Records Commission of Cook County to determine how long they must retain public records. Public bodies located outside of Cook County must work with the Downstate Local Records Commission to determine how long they must retain public records. Policy 2:250, Access to Cooperative Public Records, contains a subhead entitled Preserving Public Records which provides as follows: Public records, including email messages, shall be preserved and cataloged if: (1) they are evidence of the Joint Agreement's organization, function, policies, procedures, or activities, (2) they contain informational data appropriate for preservation, (3) their retention is required by State or federal law, or (4) they are subject to a retention request by the Board Attorney (e.g., a litigation hold), Joint Agreement auditor, or other individual authorized by the School Board or State or federal law to make such a request. Unless its retention is required as described in items numbered 3 or 4 above, a public record, as defined by the Illinois Local Records Act, may be destroyed when authorized by the Local Records Commission. See the sample policy, 2:200, School Board Meeting Procedure, for all relevant footnotes. Also see administrative procedure 2:250-AP2, Protocols for Record Preservation and Development of Retention Schedules, for recommendations regarding school Joint Agreement records retention protocols and links to web-based record management resources. Open Meeting Minutes
