Keep Quiet Or Be Arrested, Oak Brook Park Officials Told

OAK BROOK, IL – The attorney for the Oak Brook Park District board told members earlier this year that they could face criminal and civil penalties if they revealed what is discussed in closed sessions.

In an interview Monday, the attorney, Steve Adams of the Chicago-based Robbins Schwartz law firm, produced no legal citations that include punishment for closed-session leaks.

And a watchdog group said no such penalties exist.

Last month, the park board took the unusual step of releasing both the minutes and audio from the May 19 closed meeting.

The minutes state that Adams issued a "grave warning" to members that any disclosure of information from closed meetings would constitute a breach of confidentiality.

Such a "breach may be subject to prosecution under federal and state perjury laws," said the minutes, which were signed by the park district's executive director, Laure Kosey.

"Any individual found to have violated this confidentiality would face arrest and be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," according to the minutes.

Kosey told Patch that she signed the minutes after the board approved them. A recording secretary, who is a district employee, drafted the minutes, she said.

In closing the doors, the board cited the exception under state law that allows closed sessions for the removal of a person from public office if a public body has the power to take such action.

Some members expressed concern that their colleague, Mario Vescovi, had missed a number of meetings. In response, he detailed the health reasons why he was absent.

Members then acknowledged they had no ordinance under which they could remove a member who misses what they see as too many meetings. Members said they wanted the attorney to draft one.

At the end of the session, Adams issued his warning.

"You are bound to the confidentiality of the closed session, so the subject matter and the content of the discussions in closed session are not for public communications," the attorney said.

He continued, "You violate the Open Meetings Act if you speak about things occurring in closed session. The penalties are civil and criminal."

The open meetings law does not bar members from disclosing what was said. The act includes no civil or criminal penalties for breaching secrecy.

The exceptions that allow closed sessions do not prevent public bodies from keeping the doors open.

In the Patch interview, Adams said he spoke of potential civil and criminal liabilities for releasing closed session materials.

"I can't point to a criminal prosecution. You can't say it will never happen. You can't rule it out," he said.

Adams said he doesn't normally tell boards that they are subject to criminal and civil liability if they reveal closed session discussions.

He also said the minutes were inaccurate.

"I don't know how that got in there. That's not what I said," he said.

John Kraft of the Edgar County Watchdogs, which monitors government entities across the state, said no penalties exist for divulging closed-session materials.

He referred to a 1990 decision by the state's 2nd District Appellate Court. The court stated, "There is nothing in the (Open Meetings) Act that provides a cause of action against a public body for disclosing information from a closed meeting."

A year later, the attorney general's office weighed in with an opinion.

"There is no provision in the constitution or the Open Meetings Act which expressly authorizes public bodies to sanction their members for revealing what went on during a closed meeting, and there is clearly no constitutional provision from which one may imply such powers," the attorney general said.

In a 2021 article, Kraft and Kirk Allen, also of the Edgar County Watchdogs, said a public official can come out of a closed meeting and share everything that went on.

"Any board member who wishes to disclose the information from a closed meeting may do so, and there is NOTHING in the Open Meetings Act that provides a cause of action against you!" they wrote.

They said the open meetings law bars public body members from releasing closed session minutes until the body votes to do so.

Asked about the attorney's advice, Sharon Knitter, the park board's president, said in an email that Adams was simply reminding the board of the importance of maintaining confidentiality of closed sessions.

"While the specific legal consequences may vary, the intent is to protect the integrity of the closed meeting process and respect the privacy of sensitive matters," Knitter said. "As Board President, I support his guidance and believe it's important that board members uphold that standard."