The Campton Hills Village Board on Nov. 4 directed the village attorney to draft a resolution to amend the village social-media policy to authorize a village Facebook account.

Trustees debated whether to allow public comments and whether to stand up Instagram at the same time. Multiple trustees and the attorney explained that comments posted to a government social-media account can constitute public records and may trigger FOIA and retention responsibilities. "Any comments that you remove, if they violate your policy, those are public records," Village Attorney Carmen said, adding that moderation and record retention create administrative work for a small staff.

To limit staff burden and legal risk, trustees agreed on a phased approach: create an official village Facebook account with a "no comments" designation and allow the village clerk or designee to post existing village notices; the board asked staff and counsel to prepare a resolution to that effect. Trustees discussed later adding Instagram or a private, membership-based community group if the village wants an interactive forum, but they did not authorize Instagram in practice at this meeting.

Board members said the policy will name the village clerk or their designee as the account administrator and that posts can republish content already distributed through Community Counts and the village website.