In Better Government Association v. The City of Chicago Mayor’s Office, an Illinois appeals court, ruled that officials’ emails and text messages stored in personal accounts are subject to FOIA if they relate to public business. The Partnership for Better Government requested the Office of the Mayor and the Chicago Department of Public Health to send text messages and emails between the Chicago Public Health Commissioner and officials such as then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel regarding lead in water consumption in Chicago public schools. While some officials admitted they used their personal accounts for public business, the city argued that because the records are not subject to FOIA, it does not need to search those accounts.
The court ruled that the requested records are public records and therefore subject to FOIA disclosure. A record is a FOIA public record if it meets two criteria. First, the protocol must relate to public affairs and not private affairs. Second, the record must be created, used, maintained, or held for a public entity. In this case, the city argued that officers themselves are not public entities, so records in officers’ personal accounts are not subject to FOIA. To reject this argument and to be dismissed by the Court of Appeals in City of Champaign v. Madigan argued the court that officials here, unlike city council members who must form a quorum to conduct public business, can function as public bodies even when there is no official meeting. It occurred. The court also found it reasonable to conclude that their communications are prepared or eventually used by the public bodies concerned. Therefore, communications from public officials’ personal accounts relating to public affairs are subject to FOIA. The court noted that its finding followed the FOIA’s intent to promote public access to information, even though advances in communications technology might exceed the provisions of the law.
A
1. Alabama
The Alabama Public Records Act provides access to “public records,” including electronic records. While it does not directly relate to text or instant messages, there is no reason to believe that they should be treated any differently than any other form of electronic communication subject to the Public Records Act, particularly email. Note: “When law enforcement requests cell phone location data, only the requesting officer’s name and the date of the request are subject to the Open Records Act and may not be disclosed until the investigation, criminal investigation or prosecution is complete. ”