The McLean County State’s Attorney’s Office used a tool often employed by the media to seek information about WGLT’s communications with the Unit 5 school district related to news reporting about two teachers facing criminal charges.
The state’s attorney sent a Freedom of Information Act [FOIA] request to Unit 5 asking for all emails, letters, text messages, FOIA requests and FOIA responses between Unit 5 and WGLT since January pertaining to Brandon Knapp and Andrew Miller. The two men are awaiting trial for alleged misconduct with children.
Reached for comment, a spokesperson for Unit 5 said the school district had not anticipated the request.
“We do not know the purpose of their FOIA request and do not wish to speculate,” the district said.
Around noon on July 17, WGLT sent a message to Aileen Pagan Vega, the director of the McLean County Children’s Advocacy Center, asking for clarification about an email obtained through a records request to Unit 5.
In the email, Pagan Vega notified Unit 5 the district would not be permitted to view forensic interviews gathered as part of the criminal and DFCS investigations into Knapp, a Chiddix Junior High teacher.
WGLT reached out to ask why, citing a reciprocal reporting agreement between McLean County, Woodford County, Illinois State University, Bloomington, Normal and 14 area school districts which establishes expectations for information sharing. That memorandum of understanding was supplied to WGLT on June 30 in response to a FOIA request made by WGLT to Unit 5.
At 5 p.m. the same day WGLT requested comment, the state’s attorney’s office made a FOIA request for all communications between Unit 5 and WGLT — a request WGLT obtained through yet another FOIA request.
The Children’s Advocacy Center [CAC] is a division of the state’s attorney’s office that provides specialized services to child victims and their nonoffending caregivers. Pagan Vega has not responded to WGLT’s original email or a follow-up request for comment. State's Attorney Erika Reynolds provided WGLT with context surrounding prosecutors' decisions surrounding information sharing, including CAC forensic interviews, in a separate email thread related to WGLT's reporting on Knapp.
Don Craven, a media attorney who has represented WGLT and other Illinois News Broadcasters Association outlets, said in his 45 years practicing law in Illinois, he’s vaguely aware of one other instance [of which he could not recall particulars] when a prosecutor sought communications between a public body and the media using the Freedom of Information Act.
“It is, to say the least, an unusual method,” Craven said. “You see something new every 45 years.”
Reporters’ communications with sources are privileged information, Craven said, but only reporters hold that privilege. WGLT’s correspondence with the school district is therefore a public record and, once received by the school district, subject to FOIA.
Craven said the tactic could be seen as intimidation, whether or not that was the intended effect.
“It’s strange that they’re doing this by way of a FOIA request since the state’s attorney does have subpoena power available to it,” he said. “If there’s an ongoing investigation, they could just issue a grand jury subpoena to the school district to get whatever they want. Doing it this way, the district may have an obligation under the [FOIA] act to redact certain information, which may make it difficult for the state’s attorney to understand what’s going on.”
At publication time, Reynolds had not responded to two emails posing questions about the FOIA.
