meeting recording

meeting recording: what the decisions show

This topic addresses whether members of the public may record meetings that are open under the Illinois Open Meetings Act. The questions presented include whether private citizens may bring tape recorders to county board meetings, whether consent of members is required, how a separate eavesdropping law affects open recording, and whether an explicit statutory right for news media to record limits recording by others.

In these decisions, the Attorney General concluded that individuals had a pre-existing right to record open meetings that was not limited by a later provision expressly addressing news-media recording. Open, non-secret recording by a private citizen was found not to violate the Eavesdropping Act, and a county board was found unable to prohibit recording of an open meeting, though it could adopt procedural rules to ensure recording did not interfere with proceedings.

At a glance: 3 documents from 1975 to 1980(0 binding opinions, 3 determination letters). Outcome: 0 found a violation (in whole or part), 0 found none.

Recurring issues

• Whether private citizens who are not participants may tape-record open county board meetings without the members' consent. (Private citizens taping open county board meetings)
• Whether a county board may prohibit individuals from bringing a tape recorder to its public meetings. (County board ban on taping open meetings)
• Whether an express statutory right for news media to record open meetings limits any other individual's pre-existing right to record. (Recording rights at open meetings and unjustified closed sessions)

Practical points

• A public body may adopt procedural rules to ensure recording does not interfere with proceedings rather than prohibiting recording of an open meeting.
• A private citizen recording an open meeting openly does not need board members' consent to avoid a violation of the Eavesdropping Act.

Summary drafted from the linked decisions and checked against them; read the decisions themselves before relying on it. Not legal advice.