Questions & Answers

Does an investigation by the sheriff’s office automatically make its records exempt from FOIL?

QUESTION

I’m a journalist working on a story about what a county attorney described as an “investigation” conducted by the sheriff’s office into activities at the county’s forensics lab.

I asked whether it was a “criminal” investigation, but the county has not provided an answer.

The issue at hand involves recordings made during interviews with lab employees as part of the investigation. The attorney stated that these recordings are not public because they are part of an investigation.

Wouldn’t it need to be a criminal investigation for those recordings to be exempt from release under FOIL?

So far, no one from the county has clarified whether it was a criminal investigation, only that the sheriff’s office conducted an “investigation.”

Answer

Records can be withheld if they were compiled for law enforcement purposes and their disclosure would interfere with law enforcement investigations or judicial proceedings.

As you have pointed out, not all investigations involve law enforcement, and not all judicial proceedings pertain to law enforcement or criminal matters.

As noted in the opinion linked below, the law enforcement exemption requires two conditions to be met for it to be properly invoked: the records must have been compiled for law enforcement purposes, and their disclosure must cause one of the specific harms outlined in the statute.

Opinion Reference

Questions & Answers

Does an investigation by the sheriff’s office automatically make its records exempt from FOIL?

QUESTION

Answer

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