Central Illinois Sheriffs Struggle to Keep Up with Surging FOIA Request Flood

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In Central Illinois, sheriffs are grappling with an overwhelming surge in Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, a challenge that seems to be affecting law enforcement statewide.

According to WCIA’s collaboration with the Ford County Chronicle, Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman expressed that he, along with other sheriffs across Illinois, is facing a deluge of FOIA requests. This influx is significantly straining his department’s resources and staff time.

Heuerman explained, “Typically, individuals or organizations, often using generic email accounts, request extensive data on calls for service over a month. They then seek body camera footage for anything of interest from those calls,” he said. “These videos are then uploaded to websites where they’re either monetized through viewer charges or advertising due to high traffic.”

The sheriff highlighted that the volume of these requests has surged, escalating the workload required to fulfill them correspondingly.

“They are causing us work and profiting off it,” Heuerman said. “When we give out body camera footage, we have to redact anyone not involved in the incident (bystanders, etc.), by law. That is taking a lot of time of staff. We have five business days in which to respond, unless we have a compelling reason to extend the time.”

Iroquois County Sheriff Clint Perzee has echoed Heuerman’s reports when it comes to FOIAs. Last month, he told county board members that his office has been bombarded with FOIA requests.

Perzee said the requests, which seek everything from arrest and accident reports to body cam videos, number at least two to four daily on average. He also said these requests usually require one to five hours to fulfill, and because of this, Perzee is considering adding office staff to help with this task.

Similarly, Ford County Sheriff Chad Johnson said he has also seen a “noticeable increase in the number of FOIA requests” received by his office, which has taken time away from their other daily duties.

“There is also the cost of software that is necessary for the redaction of the videos that is required to protect privacy, security and sensitive information. I believe I feel the same way as many other sheriffs in this state,” Johnson said. “I question if many of these FOIA requests are for the purpose that the Act was intended for — for transparency and accountability. I instead believe many of these FOIA requests are for the purpose of financial gain through posting videos online.”

Perzee said the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association was working on a proposed legislation to address similar concerns expressed by sheriffs across the state. In an email statement Thursday, Jim Kaitschuk, the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association’s executive director, said his Springfield-based organization, “is very aware of how inundated all sheriffs across the state of Illinois are with FOIA requests.”

“As an organization and working with our sheriffs, the ISA is looking for ways to mitigate the impact this is having on sheriffs and their operations,” said Kaitschuk, a Menard County Sheriff’s deputy. “There is no formal plan drafted at this time, but we know this will be an important issue to address moving forward.”

For more information on this report, visit the Ford County Chronicle’s website.