PAC Finds Village Board's Closed Session Violated OMA
The Illinois Attorney General's Public Access Counselor (PAC) issued its third binding opinion for 2026 finding a village board in violation of the Open Meetings Act relating to a closed session. PAC Op. 26-003.
A sitting trustee on a village board submitted a complaint to the PAC claiming that the village board went into closed session to discuss "personnel issues" but instead discussed outstanding TIF loans. The village filed a response arguing that the board's closed session discussion fell under the "litigation exception" to the OMA, and that the mayor had mispoke in citing the personnel exception.
The PAC reviewed the village's response, the meeting minutes, and the recording of the closed session. First, the PAC noted that the closed session discussion did not pertain to personnel issues. Further, the PAC stated that even if the board had discussed personnel issues in closed session, a generic reference to "personnel" is not adequate to identify a specific OMA exception. The PAC also found that the board failed to record the board's public vote on the motion in the meeting minutes. As a result, the PAC determined that the village board violated the OMA by not publicly disclosing and recording into the minutes the specific exception authorizing the closed session.
The PAC also rejected the village's argument that the litigation exception applied because litigation was an option for the village in dealing with the oustanding TIF loans. First, the PAC found that the board did not cite to that exception in open session or make the necessary finding in closed session as to why litigation was probable or imminent. Second, the PAC noted that litigation was "merely a distant possibility," which was not sufficient to fall under the probable or imminent litigation exception to the OMA.
The PAC ordered the village board to publicly release its verbatim recording of the meeting as a remedy to the OMA violation.
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