In
response to a FOIA request seeking records related to a proposed commercial
solar facility, a county land use department (department) disclosed certain
records, but withheld two construction-related technical documents submitted to
the department by a special use applicant pursuant to Section 7(1)(k) of FOIA.
The requester subsequently submitted a request for review to the Illinois
Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor (PAC) claiming the department
improperly withheld the construction-related technical documents, because the
department did not show that disclosing them would compromise security.
In
its 12th binding opinion of 2025, the PAC determined that the department
properly withheld the two construction-related technical documents pursuant to FOIA. PAC
Op. 25-012. The PAC clarified that Section 7(1)(k) of FOIA exempts two categories
of records: (1) architects’ plans, engineers’ technical submissions, and other
construction related technical documents for projects not constructed or
developed in whole or in part with public funds; and (2) the same records for
projects constructed or developed with public funds, but only to the extent
that disclosure would compromise security.
In
this case, the withheld documents were
construction-related technical documents commissioned by the private company,
and no public funds were used to construct or develop the project, so these
records were per se exempt from disclosure under the plain language of
Section 7(1)(k). The PAC rejected the requester’s argument that the department
could not withhold the records without demonstrating that there disclosure
would compromise security, because the “compromise security” language only
applies to projects constructed or developed in whole or in part with public
funds, which was not the case here.
Post Authored by Eugene Bolotnikov, Ancel Glink