(A) Recording closed sessions. The city shall keep a verbatim record of all closed or executive session meetings of the corporate authorities of the city or any subsidiary “public body” as defined by the State 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.
(B) Responsibility for recording closed sessions and maintaining recordings. The City Clerk or his or her designee shall be responsible for arranging for the recording of closed or executive sessions. In the absence of the City 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 City Council. Each subsidiary public body of the city 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 City Clerk with a copy of the recording. The City Clerk, or his or her designee, shall securely maintain the verbatim recordings of all closed sessions of the corporate authorities of the city and all subsidiary public bodies of the city.
(C) Closed session minutes. In addition to the recordings of the closed and executive session as addressed in this section, the city will keep minutes of all closed meetings in accordance with the requirements of the Open Meetings Act, ILCS Ch. 5, Act 120, § 1.
(D) Procedure for recording. At the beginning of each closed session, those present shall identify themselves by voice for the audio recordings. 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.
(E) Back-up equipment/procedure for equipment malfunction. The city will maintain sufficient tapes, batteries and equipment for the city to comply with this section. The City 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 the malfunction. In the event that an equipment malfunction cannot be corrected immediately, the closed session will terminate until a time as the closed session may proceed with a functioning recording device.
(F) Procedure for review of closed session minutes and recordings. At one meeting at least every six months, the agenda shall include the item: “Review of the minutes and recordings of all closed sessions that have not yet been released for public review and determination of which minutes, if any, may be released.” Minutes shall be reviewed in closed session and shall not be released unless the corporate authorities of the city find that it is no longer necessary to protect the public interest or the privacy of an individual by keeping them confidential. As to any minutes not released, the corporate authorities shall find that the “need for confidentiality still exists” as to those minutes. Minutes of closed sessions shall be kept indefinitely. Recordings shall be reviewed in a manner appropriate to the purpose for which they were intended.
(G) Maintenance and public release of recordings and access to tapes. The audio or video tape recordings of closed sessions shall be maintained for 18 months after the closed session and shall not be released to the public unless the release is required by a court order or specifically authorized for release by a vote of the City Council. Members of the corporate authorities may listen to the closed session recordings in the presence of the City Clerk or his or her designee. Copies of the tapes will not be made or provided to anyone unless specifically authorized by vote of the City Council.
(H) Procedure for destruction of recordings. The City Clerk or his or her designee is hereby authorized to destroy the audio and video recordings of those closed sessions for which:
(1) The corporate authorities of the city have approved the minutes of the closed sessions as to accurate content, regardless of whether the minutes have been released for public review;
(2) More than 18 months have elapsed since the date of the closed session;
(3) There is no court order requiring the preservation of the recording; and
(4) The corporate authorities of the city have not passed a motion requiring the preservation of the verbatim recording of that meeting.
(Ord. 06-01, passed 1-10-2006)