Illinois Code § 7

§ 7.

Powers and duties of the Secretary. (1) The Secretary, whenever it appears to him to be in the public interest, may accept for deposit in the State Archives the records of any agency or of the Legislative or Judicial branches of the State government that are determined by him to have sufficient historical or other value to warrant the permanent preservation of such records by the State of Illinois. (2) The Secretary may accept for deposit in the State Archives official papers, photographs, microfilm, electronic and digital records, drawings, maps, writings, and records of every description of counties, municipal corporations, political subdivisions and courts of this State, and records of the federal government pertaining to Illinois, when such materials are deemed by the Secretary to have sufficient historical or other value to warrant their continued preservation by the State of Illinois. (3) The Secretary, whenever he deems it in the public interest, may accept for deposit in the State Archives motion picture films, still pictures, and sound recordings that are appropriate for preservation by the State government as evidence of its organization, functions and policies. (4) The Secretary shall be responsible for the custody, use, servicing and withdrawal of records transferred for deposit in the State Archives. The Secretary shall observe any rights, limitations, or restrictions imposed by law relating to the use of records, including the provisions of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act which limit access to certain records or which permit access to certain records only after the removal of all personally identifiable data. Access to restricted records shall be at the direction of the depositing State agency or, in the case of records deposited by the legislative or judicial branches of State government at the direction of the branch which deposited them, but no limitation on access to such records shall extend more than 75 years after the creation of the records, except as provided in the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act. The Secretary shall not impose restrictions on the use of records that are defined by law as public records or as records open to public inspection. (5) The Secretary shall make provision for the preservation, arrangement, repair, and rehabilitation, duplication and reproduction, description, and exhibition of records deposited in the State Archives as may be needed or appropriate. (6) The Secretary shall make or reproduce and furnish upon demand authenticated or unauthenticated copies of any of the documents, photographic material or other records deposited in the State Archives, the public examination of which is not prohibited by statutory limitations or restrictions or protected by copyright. The Secretary shall charge a fee therefor in accordance with the schedule of fees in Section 5.5 of the Secretary of State Act, except that there shall be no charge for making or authentication of such copies or reproductions furnished to any department or agency of the State for official use. When any such copy or reproduction is authenticated by the Great Seal of the State of Illinois and is certified by the Secretary, or in his name by his authorized representative, such copy or reproduction shall be admitted in evidence as if it were the original. (7) Any official of the State of Illinois may turn over to the Secretary of State, with his consent, for permanent preservation in the State Archives, any official books, records, documents, original papers, or files, not in current use in his office, taking a receipt therefor. (8) (Blank). (9) The Secretary may cooperate with the Illinois State Genealogical Society, or its successor organization, for the mutual benefit of the Society and the Illinois State Archives, with the State Archives furnishing necessary space for the society to carry on its functions and keep its records, to receive publications of the Illinois State Genealogical Society, to use members of the Illinois State Genealogical Society as volunteers in various archival projects and to store the Illinois State Genealogical Society's film collections. (Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07.)