Court Finds That City Conducted Reasonable Search for Records
In Sonya
Blackman and Oily Thomas v. City of Chicago, Requesters filed a
FOIA request with the City of Chicago, seeking police records for an
investigation of a homicide for which plaintiff Thomas was convicted. The
Chicago Police Department released the homicide file to plaintiffs in
response. Upon receipt, plaintiffs noticed that certain documents were
missing based on the inventory ledge in the file. Plaintiffs then
requested the City provide an index under Section 11(e) of FOIA, and locate the
missing document or provide blank forms if the originals could not be
found. The FOIA Officer attempted to locate the missing documents, but
then informed plaintiffs that the documents could not be found. The FOIA
Officer provided plaintiffs with an index listing the documents provided and
explaining any redactions. Plaintiffs then filed a lawsuit, alleging that
the City did not comply with FOIA by failing to provide an adequate index,
failing to provide blank copies of missing forms, and failing to look for
documents in good faith. The trial court ruled in favor of the City, finding (1) that the allegations under
11(e) were moot as the City had responded with an index and (2) that the
plaintiffs did not sufficiently challenge an affidavit by the City’s FOIA Officer
certifying that she conducted a diligent search.
On appeal, the Appellate Court also ruled in the City's favor, noting that the
City supported its argument with the affidavit of the FOIA Officer, but that
plaintiff failed to file any counter-affidavit in response. Further, plaintiffs
failed to show that a more diligent search would have yielded the missing
records. The Court noted that a public body is not required to recreate
or reacquire a document no longer within its possession.
Post Authored by Erin Pell, Ancel Glink
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