[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Coal City 2-25-2008 by Ord. No. 08-05. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
The Village of Coal City shall keep a verbatim record of all
closed or executive session meetings of the corporate authorities
of the Village or any subsidiary "public body" as defined by the Illinois
Open Meetings Act, ILCS Ch. 5, Act 120, § 1. The verbatim
record shall be in the form of an audio or video recording as determined
by the corporate authorities.
The Village Clerk or his or her designee shall be responsible
for arranging for the recording of such closed or executive sessions.
In the absence of the Village Clerk or his or her designee, the meeting
chair will arrange for the audio or video recording of the closed
or executive session of the Village Board. Each subsidiary public
body of the Village shall designate an individual who will be responsible
for the recording of any and all closed or executive sessions of the
subsidiary body and for providing the Village Clerk with a copy of
such recording. The Village Clerk, or his or her designee, shall securely
maintain the verbatim recordings of all closed sessions of the corporate
authorities of the Village and all subsidiary public bodies of the
Village within a designated area.
In addition to the recordings of the closed and executive session
as addressed in this chapter, the Village will keep minutes of all
closed meetings in accordance with the requirements of the Open Meetings
Act, ILCS Ch. 5, Act 120, § 1.
At the beginning of each closed session, those present shall
identify themselves by voice for the audio recording. If the meeting
is videotaped, those present shall individually appear on camera and
identify themselves by voice at the beginning of the closed session.
The meeting chair shall also announce the times the closed session
commences and ends at the appropriate points on the recording.
The Village will maintain sufficient tapes, batteries and equipment
for the Village to comply with this chapter. The Village Clerk or
his or her designee will periodically check the equipment to confirm
that it is functioning. In the event that anyone present at a closed
session determines that the equipment is not functioning properly,
the closed session will be temporarily suspended to attempt to correct
any malfunction. In the event that an equipment malfunction cannot
be corrected immediately, the closed session will terminate until
such time as time as the closed session may proceed with a functioning
recording device.
The Clerk or his/her designee shall be responsible for taking
the minutes of every closed session meeting of the corporate authority.
The minimum requirements for such minutes shall include:
The corporate authority of the Village shall approve written
record of closed session minutes previously conducted in a timely
manner. Closed session minutes shall be approved prior to the semi-annual
review by the appointed designee. Said review shall be conducted in
a closed session meeting and reported in open session in compliance
with the Open Meetings Act.
Two times each calendar year, and at any other meetings as necessary,
the agenda shall include the item "Review of all closed session minutes
that have not been released for public review." The corporate authorities
of the Village shall review the minutes and, in consultation with
its attorney, make a determination as to whether the closed session
minutes may be opened for public review or find that a need for confidentiality
still exists. Minutes of closed sessions shall be kept indefinitely.
The audio- or videotape recordings of closed sessions shall
be maintained for 18 months after the closed session and shall not
be released to the public unless such release is required by a court
order or specifically authorized for release by a vote of the Village
Board. Members of the corporate authorities may listen to the closed
session recordings in the presence of the Village Clerk or his or
her designee.
The Village Clerk or his or her designee is hereby authorized
to destroy the audio and video recordings of those closed sessions
for which:
A.
The corporate authorities of the Village have approved the minutes
of the closed sessions as to accurate content, regardless of whether
the minutes have been released for public review;
B.
More than 18 months have elapsed since the date of the closed session;
C.
There is no court order requiring the preservation of such recording;
and
D.
The corporate authorities of the Village have not passed a motion
requiring the preservation of the verbatim recording of that meeting.
