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Illinois FOIA & OMA Reference

5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1)

OMA

Employee/contractor appointment, discipline, or performance

Employee/contractor appointment, discipline, or performance

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Read the full statute text on /statutes →

Jump to the 28 issues decided under this provision, with a drafting brief ↓

1 upheld (no violation found) · 16 rejected (violation found) · 5 partial violation, out of 22 documents.

Not legal advice, and not a per-exemption ruling — this reflects each document's overall disposition. See the FAQ disclaimer.

How the Public Access Counselor has treated 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1)

This exception allows a public body to close a meeting to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance or dismissal of specific employees or contractors. The decisions treat it as narrow, applying only to identifiable individuals rather than groups, general policy, or other officials.

Across these decisions, the PAC found violations where boards used this exception for broader topics such as bidding processes, budgets, across-the-board raises, general staffing strategy, elected-official salaries and duties, board-member conduct, advisory opinions or reports, and FOIA strategy. It also found violations or partial violations where discussion went beyond the cited exception, where bodies failed to properly announce the exception, or failed to provide closed-session recordings and minutes for confidential review.

At a glance: 22 documents from 2012 to 2026(4 binding opinions, 18 determination letters). Most often cited alongside: 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(4) (Evidence to a quasi-adjudicative body) (3); 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(2) (Collective negotiating matters / salary schedules) (2); 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(11) (Pending, probable, or imminent litigation) (2); 5 ILCS 120/2(a) (Openness required) (1); 5 ILCS 120/2(c) (General closed-session exceptions) (1).

Recurring issues

Practical points

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

All 22 documents citing 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1)

Issues decided under 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1)

Individual questions the Public Access Bureau decided under this provision, with the rule it applied, grouped by outcome. Extracted automatically from the letters; check each source letter.

28 issues across 21 determination letters:16 violation found · 11 no violation · 1 other.

Counts are per issue, not per letter, and come from automated extraction checked against sampled letters. Determination letters are not binding precedent.

Authorities the Bureau cites most on this issue

How to challenge a denial on this issue

AI-generated summary of the decisions listed on this page, with each point linked to the letters it comes from. Determination letters are not binding precedent and this is not legal advice. Open the letter and check the PDF before relying on any point.

When a challenge is strong

When the public body usually wins

Points to put in your letter

Common mistakes

Facts to gather first

  • The names or positions of the people discussed (e.g., board members, elected officials, groups of employees).
  • Meeting minutes, agenda, or recording indicating whether the closed session topic was general policy, budget, or structural changes.
  • Witness accounts or contemporaneous notes showing the discussion extended beyond a specific individual's employment matters.

These notes are based on specific, non-binding determination letters; outcomes depend on the particular facts, and you should verify the full text of each cited decision.

Drafting brief for an AI assistant

Copy this into your assistant to help draft a request, appeal, or challenge to a denial that turns on this issue. It carries the rules and decisions, not your facts: add those yourself. Machine-readable version: oma-2-c-1.json.

Violation found (16)

No violation (11)

  • Closed session discussion of trustee conduct under 2(c)(1)

    Rule: Discussion of a trustee's conduct was intertwined with and directly relevant to the Board's consideration of the College President's employment, so it fell within the 2(c)(1) exception.

    No violation A board's vote on undisclosed censure motions · July 16, 2024

  • January 17, 2023 closed session discussion

    Rule: Closed session discussions stayed within section 2(c)(1) and 2(c)(2) exceptions, focusing on specific employee matters and collective bargaining.

    No violation Closed-session discussions of school closures and budget cuts · November 8, 2024

  • March 7, 2023 closed session discussion

    Rule: Closed session discussions stayed within section 2(c)(1) and 2(c)(2) exceptions, focusing on specific employee matters and collective bargaining.

    No violation Closed-session discussions of school closures and budget cuts · November 8, 2024

  • Closed session discussion of equipment purchase

    Rule: Discussion of an equipment purchase was permissible because it was connected to and provided context for considering a specific employee's employment, performance, or compensation.

    No violation Closed-session discussion of personnel matters · May 12, 2022

  • Closed session discussion of specific employees

    Rule: Discussion of specific employees' compensation and relative merits of named candidates is authorized under the specific employee exception.

    No violation Closed-session discussion of water rates and tax levies · November 18, 2022

  • Closed session discussion of employee performance

    Rule: Section 2(c)(1) permits closed session discussion of the performance of specific employees, including critiques of their exercise of judgment.

    No violation Closed-session discussion of board member conduct and policy changes · April 29, 2019

  • Closed session discussion under section 2(c)(1) personnel exception

    Rule: The Commission did not discuss personnel issues involving specific employees in closed session, so the section 2(c)(1) exception was not improperly invoked.

    No violation Closed-session discussion of non-litigation matters · October 5, 2018

  • Closed session discussion of retiree health insurance benefits

    Rule: Discussion of a former employee's compensation under an employment agreement is within the section 2(c)(1) exception.

    No violation A school board's closed-session discussion of staffing strategy · November 9, 2018

  • Closed session discussions exceeded scope of cited exception

    Rule: Closed session discussions of employee's conduct related to outside association were within scope because they impacted her public employment.

    No violation Closed-session termination of an employee · November 28, 2017

  • Closed session under section 2(c)(1)

    Rule: A public body may close a meeting to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees.

    No violation Emergency board meeting on personnel and litigation · July 14, 2017

  • Requirement to state specific subject matter of closed session

    Rule: OMA requires citation to a specific exception but does not require the public body to articulate the specific subject matter of its closed session.

    No violation A school board's public comment restrictions and closed-session justification · December 12, 2016

Other (1)

  • Trustees are not volunteers under 2(c)(1)

    Rule: Elected officials are not 'volunteers' for purposes of section 2(c)(1); closed session discussions of their conduct must fall under section 2(c)(3).

    Other A board's vote on undisclosed censure motions · July 16, 2024