PAC Says Records Involving Juvenile Witnesses and Victims Not Exempt From FOIA
The PAC just issued a binding opinion that sheds some light on how the Attorney General interprets recent changes to the Juvenile Court Act and FOIA. PAC Op. 18-016.
A law firm that routinely files FOIA requests with municipal police departments for traffic accident reports submitted a request to the Rock Island PD for a particular accident report. The PD denied the request, citing section 7.5(bb) of FOIA and section 1-7(A) of the Juvenile Court Act. The PD argued that the accident report was exempt because the accident involved six minors who were listed as victims and witnesses in the report. The PD pointed to a recent amendment to the Juvenile Court Act that provides that "All juvenile records which have not been expunged are sealed and may never be disclosed to the general public or otherwise made widely available."
The law firm appealed the denial to the PAC, which found the PD in violation of FOIA for denying the request for the accident report. The PAC first reviewed the Juvenile Court Act and the recent amendment and determined that "juvenile records" was not defined. However, the PAC noted that the legislative history of the new language suggested that the legislature intended to protect "juvenile records" that relate to a minor who has been "investigated, arrested or taken into custody" and not records where the minor is a witness or a victim.
In short, the PAC found that the Juvenile Court Act protects law enforcement records where a minor is being investigated, arrested, or taken into custody, but does not protect records where the minor is a victim or witness.
Although not addressed in the opinion, the PD might have redacted the names and identifying information about the minors and cited 7(1)(c) of FOIA which exempts records where the public body can demonstrate that disclosure would be an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy that outweighs any public interest in their release.
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