Effective on and after January 1, 2004, it is the policy of the Village Board of Trustees that the Village Board and each and every board or commission appointed by or otherwise under the jurisdiction of the Village Board shall keep and maintain verbatim records of all closed meetings in the form of an audio recording pursuant to and in accordance with the terms of the Illinois Open Meetings Act and the following policy:
A. The Village Clerk is hereby authorized to purchase reasonable audio recording devices in sufficient numbers so as to make such equipment readily available to the Village Board of Trustees and each and every board or commission appointed by or otherwise under the jurisdiction of the Village Board of Trustees. The Village Clerk shall be deemed the custodian of such audio recording equipment, and shall keep the same in good working order and shall keep on hand sufficient audio recording media for the recording of all closed meetings of the Village Board of Trustees and other boards and commissions. The Village Clerk shall make such audio recording equipment available to the Village Board of Trustees and each and every board and commission for the purpose of keeping a verbatim record of all closed meetings in the form of an audio recording. (Res. 332, 11-3-2003, eff. 1-1-2004)
B. At the beginning of each closed meeting of the Village Board of Trustees and other boards and commissions, the Clerk or Secretary of the Village Board of Trustees or each and every board or commission shall cause the audio recording device to record a verbatim record on an audio recording media of the closed meeting from beginning to end. At the conclusion of the closed meeting, the Clerk or Secretary shall remove the audio recording from the audio recording device and shall record on the face of the audio recording: 1) the date and time the closed meeting began and ended; and 2) the date and time the audio recording began and ended; and 3) the initials of the Clerk or Secretary. Only the Village Clerk shall have possession of or access to the audio recordings of closed meetings except in accordance with the provisions of this section.
C. Any duly elected Village President or Trustee of the Village Board of Trustees, the Village Clerk, the Village Attorney, and any duly appointed member of any board or commission may have access to inspect and review any audio recording of a closed meeting in which that person was actually present; provided, however, that the person requesting such inspection and review of any such audio recording shall first give written notice to the Village Clerk requesting inspection and review of a specific audio recording of a closed meeting. The Village Clerk shall thereafter give written notice of the request for inspection and review to every person who was present at the closed meeting, the Village Attorney, and the Village President. Not earlier than three (3) business days nor later than seven (7) business days after the receipt of the written request to inspect and review the audio recording, the person requesting such inspection and review shall meet with the Village Clerk and the Village Attorney. The audio recording shall be reviewed in the presence of the person requesting such inspection and review of the audio recording, the Village Attorney and the Village Clerk. No audio recording of any closed meeting shall be reproduced in any manner whatsoever. (Res. 332, 11-3-2003, eff. 1-1-2004; amd. 2017 Code)
D. The audio recording of any closed meeting shall not be released to and shall not be reviewed or inspected by any nonparticipant of the closed meeting; provided, however, that if a bona fide and duly executed order of a court of competent jurisdiction is served upon the Village Clerk, and such order is duly reviewed and consented to by the Village Attorney, the Village Clerk shall personally deliver to the Judge issuing such bona fide order the requested audio recording of the closed meeting for in camera inspection.
E. The Village Clerk shall destroy audio recordings of closed meetings eighteen (18) months after the completion of the closed meeting so recorded, but only after: 1) the Village Board of Trustees or other board or commission specifically approves the destruction of the particular audio recording; and 2) the Village Board of Trustees or other board or commission has approved the written minutes of the closed session that meet the written minutes requirements of the Open Meetings Act. (Res. 332, 11-3-2003, eff. 1-1-2004)