Champaign-Urbana Public Health District is Violating Public Records Laws During COVID-19 Pandemic

CU-Underground has just received a series of emails and documents from a citizen who has been attempting to acquire public records from the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD). The request seeks records relating to the enforcement of Governor Pritzker’s stay-at-home order within Champaign County. This is a very important issue, given that Julie Pryde, the Public Health Administrator for CUPHD, has recently taken action to shut down local efforts to provide Champaign residents with access to medical testing.

The very basic Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was sent nearly three weeks ago, and Illinois state law requires a response within 5 business days. In extreme cases, the public body may extend their response time by another 5 business days, but in this case, they’ve already done that, twice. According to the applicant, “Sending multiple iterations of extensions like this is utterly ridiculous. This is entirely illegal.”  In fact, violations of this sort can fetch fines of up to $5,000 per occurrence.

CUPHD has at least two full-time FOIA officers, Tammy Hamilton, and Patricia K. Robinson. There is no particular reason that they should not be able to fill a basic FOIA request within the allowed time, even during a busy period. The next best explanation is that they simply do not want to release the information.

One may argue that during times like this, public bodies should be excused for not being open and transparent. On the contrary, times like this are exactly when those virtues are most needed. If CUPHD staff and administration are content breaking public records laws, in what other illegal or immoral activities might they engage?