Can a public body hold a meeting with less than 48 hours' notice?

The meetings of all governing bodies and committees of public bodies in Illinois, other than regularly-scheduled meetings, require at least 48 hours prior notice. That notice is to be given by positing information about the meeting at the principal office of the governmental body and furnishing the notice and agenda to news media, which have registered with the municipality in the manner provided by statute(5 ILCS 120/2.02). The one exception to the 48-hour notice requirement is when a meeting, otherwise requiring this notice, must be called in the case of an emergency. The statute does not describe the nature of the emergency, but the courts would be expected to liberally interpret this provision so long as one might reasonably believe that a meeting of this nature would be in the public interest and that a delay in the meeting time would be detrimental. Notice of an emergency meeting must be given as soon as practicable by posting and making a reasonable effort must be made to contact registered news media. Like a special meeting, an emergency meeting can only be used to discuss and act upon the specific matter or matters which were mentioned in the notice of the meeting. The fact that a governmental body may meet on less than 48 hours' notice does not empower that body to take any other actions which are inconsistent with the lawful authority to act otherwise possessed by that body. The statutes relating to various governmental bodies would generally give a governmental unit, meeting under emergency conditions, the ability to take actions necessary to protect the interests of the governmental body. Sometimes, however, actions, such as the ability to enter into contracts without public bidding require a greater than a majority vote. (See, for example, 65 ILCS 5/5-9-1, which allows municipal contracts to be entered into without bidding upon the vote of at least two-thirds of all the aldermen or trustees then holding office.)