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IL Senate Bill 1549

Legislation

State: Illinois
Signed: August 11, 2009

Effective: August 11, 2009
Chapter: Public Act 096-0328

Summary

While the Illinois Notary Public Act previously recognized that the Notarial Record created for each conveyance of residential real property in Cook County, Illinois was exempted from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, SB 1549 formally place the Notarial Record within the list of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act itself.

Affects

Amends Chapter 5, Section 140 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes.

Changes
  1. Exempts the Notarial Record or other medium containing the thumbprint or fingerprint required by Section 3-102(c)(6) of the Illinois Notary Public Act from the disclosure provisions of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.
Analysis

It is the fundamental philosophy of the American constitutional form of government that all persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts and policies of those who represent them as public officials and public employees. The Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides access to information to enable the people to fulfill their duties of discussing public issues fully and freely, making informed political judgments and monitoring government to ensure that it is being conducted in the public interest. However, the Act was not intended to be used to violate individual privacy. The new Notarial Record law that took effect this past June created a provision requiring the thumb- or fingerprint of each grantor of residential real property in Cook County, Illinois to be placed on the Notarial Record created to deter fraud in the conveyance of residential real property. This new law specifically stated that the Notarial Record or other medium shall not be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. Senate Bill 1549 place this exemption within the text of the FIOA itself.

Read Senate Bill 1549.

Note: House Bill 47 and Senate Bill 2091 enacted the same provision during the 2009 session.

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