An Illinois Appellate Court ruled in favor of a sheriff’s office in a lawsuit challenging the sheriff office’s response to a FOIA request submitted by an arrestee who had been detained in county jail. Staake v. Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office.
Plaintiff was arrested, booked, and detained in a county jail on various criminal charges. While in county jail, plaintiff allegedly made statements to others over the jail’s recorded phone lines about an order of protection his wife had against him as well as the criminal offenses that led to his arrest. Plaintiff filed multiple FOIA requests with the sheriff’s office asking for those recordings, but the requests were denied by the sheriff’s office. Plaintiff then filed a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office claiming it violated FOIA in denying his FOIA request. The trial court ruled in favor of the sheriff’s office, agreeing with the sheriff’s office that the records were exempt from FOIA because plaintiff failed to establish how those recordings were “relevant” to his pending or potential claims or cases.
On appeal, the Appellate Court reviewed section 7(1)(e-10) of FOIA, which exempts from FOIA the following:
(e-10) Law enforcement records of other persons requested by a person committed to the Department of Corrections, Department of Human Services Division of Mental Health, 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.
The Appellate Court analyzed whether Section 7(1)(e-10) applied to the plaintiff’s FOIA request and determined that it did, finding that plaintiff failed to demonstrate how the requested records “may be relevant” to any pending or potential case or claim. Because he did not meet his burden, the Appellate Court upheld the trial court’s ruling in favor of the sheriff’s office.
