OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL STATE OF ILLINOIS Lisa Madigan ATTORNEY GENERAL March 29, 2018 Via electronic mail Mr. Andrew D. Johnson Superintendent Jasper County Community Unit School District No. 1 609 South Lafayette Street Newton, Illinois 62448 ajohnson@jccu1. org RE: OMA Request for Review — 2018 PAC 52345 Dear Mr. Johnson: The Public Access Bureau has received a Request for Review alleging that the Jasper County Community Unit School District No. 1 ( District) violated the Open Meetings Act OMA) ( 5 ILCS 120/ 1 et seq. ( West 2016)). A copy of this Request for Review is attached. Mr. John Kraft alleges that on March 14, 2018, the District failed to provide a Board of Education ( Board) member with access to closed session verbatim recordings in violation of section 2. 06( e) of OMA ( 5 ILCS 120/ 2. 06( e) ( West 2016)). Mr. Kraft further alleges that the District failed to maintain closed session verbatim recordings at its main office or its official storage location, and copied and/ or removed those recordings without a majority vote of the Board or by court order in violation of section 2. 06( e) of OMA. We have determined that further inquiry is warranted. Please provide a written response to the allegations in the Requests for Review. Please specifically address whether a Board member requested access to closed session verbatim recordings and whether the District provided the access in accordance with section 2. 06( e) of OMA. 1 Please also address whether the District has maintained the closed session verbatim recordings in accordance with section In relevant part, section 2. 06( e) of OMA provides: " Access to verbatim recordings shall be provided to duly elected officials or appointed officials filling a vacancy of an elected office in a public body, and access shall be granted in the public body' s main office or official storage location, in the presence of a records secretary, an administrative official of the public body, or any elected official of the public body." 500 South Second Street, Springfield, Illinois 62706 • ( 217) 782- 1090 • TTY: ( 217) 785 - 2771 • Fax: ( 217) 782- 7046 100 West Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60601 • ( 312) 814- 3000 • TTY: ( 312) 814- 3374 • Fax: ( 312) 814- 3806 1001 East Main, Carbondale, Illinois 62901 • ( 618) 529- 6400 • TTY: ( 618) 529- 6403 • Fax: ( 618) 529- 6416 Mr. Andrew D. Johnson March 29, 201 Page 2 2.06(e) of if the District has written policies or procedures {or the maintenance and handling ofclosed session verbatim recordings. please provide this office with a copy. As required by section 3.50:) oftlle OMA (5 ILCS (West 2016)), please provide this information to our office within 7 working days afier receipt oftl'lis letter. As we conduct our review ofthis matter, we will notify ycu ifwe need to review additional records or information. Please note that under the Act, we are required to forward a copy ofany response (rum 3 public body to the requester and provide the requester an opportunity to reply. 5 ILCS 120/3502) (West 2016). The Act also permits a public body to provide a copy ofa response with confidential information redacted for release to the requester, If you believe that other documents or information would be helpful to us as we review the issues. you may submit additional records or affidavits, If you have any questions or would like to discuss this matter, please Contact me directly at nolson@atg.state.il.us or (2l7) 72279073. Thank you in advance far your cooperation. Very truly yours, NEIL P. OLSON Deputy Public Access Counselor Public Access Bureau Attachment CC: Vm mull 1h. relevant part. section 2 06(e) provides. "No verbatim recordings be recorded or removed twin the public body's mam etfiee or official storage location, except by vote oftlle public body or by Court order." Pub Access 2&2: Front: John Kraft -- Sm: Friday, March 23, 2013 son Tu: rum Access: Public mess Ce: Allen subm: OMA Request for Review Uasper County School District) 343-2013 AG PAC Please consider this a request for review of allegations of Open Meetings Act violations NAME OF PUBLIC BODY: Jasper County School District DATE OF ALLEGED OMA VIOLATONS: March 14, 2018 and probably others This request for review is brought under Section 3.5 of the Open Meetings Act, which states that a person who believes that a violation of this Act by a public body has occurred may file a request for review of the alleged violations ALLEGATION: That the school district, thru its Board Secretary and/or other employees, have violated Section 2.06(e) of the Open Meetings Act in the following ways: Failing to provide access to certain verbatim recordings when a board member requested access to listen to closed session recordings Failing to maintain verbatim recordings at the district '5 main ofiice or at its ofiiet'als storage location Copied, or otherwise removed verbatim recordings without majority vote a] the Board and without Court Order Allowed unsupervised access to verbatim recordings to the district '5 IT employee -- Allowed unsupervised access to verbatim recordings to the district 's attorney - Allowed unsupervised access to verbatim recordings lathe district superintendent Each of the above is a violation of the Act, and I request expedited review of this matter. Additionally, the public body's own policy denotes responsibility for keeping the verbatim recording to the Board Secretary, not the IT guy or the Superintendent, or the attorney. Allowing others access to these recording while prohibiting a board member's access violates the intent and letter of the Act and violates their own policy. Electronic com nicotions preferred. Thanks for your prompt consideration of this matter, John Krafi