Court Filings

The Illinois Appellate Court (Third District) answered two certified questions about the Biometric Information Privacy Act exemption for government contractors. The court held that the exemption does not require a contractor to work exclusively for a state agency or local government. However, the exemption applies only when the contractor’s challenged conduct occurred within the scope of the contractor’s governmental work—i.e., when the contractor was acting as a contractor for the government. The court therefore rejected a purely temporal reading that would exempt all conduct during the existence of a government contract.

The Illinois Appellate Court (3rd District) answered a certified question about whether a litigant granted a full fee waiver under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 298 is also entitled to a waiver of court reporter transcript costs. The court held that Rule 298 incorporates the waiver terms of 735 ILCS 5/5-105(a)(1), and following the Second District’s reasoning in In re Marriage of Main, concluded that transcript costs necessary for an appeal fall within the waivable "fees, costs, and charges." The case is remanded for the trial court to identify which transcripts are necessary and to provide them to the appellant without charge.