Madison Co., Ill. (ECWd) –
The Madison County Treasurer’s office was presented with a public records request asking for the name(s) of all people who were blocked from the Madison County Treasurer’s Facebook page.
Here is his response:
“After receipt of your FOIA request, and during a search for responsive records, it was found that only one person was blocked from the Madison County Treasurer’s Facebook page. Upon noticing this, our office immediately unblocked that person. Prior to this discovery and prior to the action taken, no responsive record was created. After the action was taken, no record responsive to your request could be generated. Therefore, there are no responsive records pertaining to your request.“
The claim that “prior to” discovering a person blocked “no responsive record was created” is false. The public record was created the instant the person was initially blocked. The “discovery” of someone on the blocked list WAS the responsive record and should have been produced.
By not saving the record showing the name of the person who was blocked, the Treasurer permitted, either intentionally or unintentionally, the destruction of the responsive record – and then failed to provide the name of the blocked person to the FOIA requester (whom was previously blocked).
