New Exemptions to FOIA Exempt Additional Records Requested by Inmates
The Illinois Freedom of Information Act was recently amended
to add additional exemptions for records requested by persons committed to the
Department of Corrections or a county jail. Public Act 100-0026 was
recently signed by the Governor, and became effective on August 4, 2017.
The amendment adds three new exemptions to Section 7 of FOIA:
(e-8)
Records requested by a person committed to the Department of Corrections or a
county jail, the disclosure of which would result in the risk of harm to any
person or the risk of an escape from a jail or correctional institution or
facility.
(e-9)
Records requested by a person in a county jail or committed to the Department
of Corrections containing personal information pertaining to the person's
victim or the victim's family, including, but not limited to, a victim's home
address, home telephone number, work or school address, work telephone number,
social security number, or any other identifying information, except as may be
relevant to a requester's current or potential case or claim.
(e-10)
Law enforcement records of other persons requested by a person committed to the
Department of Corrections or a county jail, including, but not limited to,
arrest and booking records, mug shots, and crime scene photographs, except as
these records may be relevant to the requester's current or potential case or
claim.
Section 7(e-5) and 7(e-6) were
also amended to exempt records requested from persons committed to a county
jail if those materials are available in the library of the jail, or if the
records include records from staff member’s personnel files, rosters, or
assignment information. Previously, Sections 7(e-5) and 7(e-6) only
applied to records requested from inmates committed to the Department of
Corrections.
The goal of these amendments is
to prevent FOIA from being used for harassment purposes. Public bodies
may wish to review any exemptions listed in their FOIA policies to determine
whether these new exemptions should be added.
Post Authored by Erin Pell, Ancel Glink
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