7(1)(d)(i)

How the Public Access Counselor has treated 7(1)(d)(i)

Section 7(1)(d)(i) covers records compiled for law enforcement purposes when disclosure would interfere with pending or reasonably contemplated law enforcement proceedings. The public body must show by clear and convincing evidence that release at the time of the request would create that interference, not merely that records relate to an investigation or enforcement file.

In these decisions, the PAC often found violations where bodies relied on conclusory statements, cited federal FOIA, or withheld entire reports or videos without explaining the interference. It upheld withholding where the body showed a pending investigation and explained how disclosure would interfere, including for certain audit-manual sections, body-camera footage from private residences, hit-and-run surveillance video, and shooting video held during an active investigation.

At a glance: 12 documents from 2013(1 binding opinion, 11 determination letters). Most often cited alongside: 7(1)(d)(ii) (Would interfere with active administrative enforcement proceedings) (5); 7(1)(b) (Private information) (4); 7(1)(c) (Personal privacy) (3); 7(1)(d)(iii) (Would create a substantial likelihood of an unfair trial or hearing) (3); 7(1)(a) (Federal/State-law confidentiality — or public defender case files, for documents issued under the other amendment version) (2).

Recurring issues

• Whether a conclusory claim of an active investigation satisfies the burden without a detailed factual showing of interference. (A police report, Police interview records of a private citizen, Surveillance video footage of a shooting incident)
• Whether a public body may rely on federal FOIA exemptions instead of proving an Illinois FOIA exemption by clear and convincing evidence. (Death investigation records and police-federal communications)
• Whether an entire incident, crash, or investigative file may be withheld or only the portions whose release would interfere. (Police incident report for case 2019-48357, Police reports and video footage of a traffic crash)
• Whether video or body-camera footage tied to a pending criminal investigation may be withheld under law-enforcement exemptions. (Police video of a hit-and-run incident, Police body-camera footage of a search warrant execution, Surveillance video footage of a shooting incident)

Practical points

• Explain in detail how disclosure at the time of the request would interfere with a specific pending or contemplated proceeding rather than stating only that an investigation is active.
• Cite and prove the applicable Illinois FOIA exemption because federal FOIA exemptions do not justify withholding under Illinois FOIA.
• Review records for segregable portions and release non-exempt material instead of withholding an entire report or video file when only part is exempt.

Summary drafted from the linked decisions and checked against them; read the decisions themselves before relying on it. Not legal advice.