Capitol News Illinois is suing Sangamon County and Sangamon County Central Dispatch system after a denial of a Freedom of Information Act request related to a multi-county chase that resulted in the death of a Kansas man last month.
WTAX reports the news outlet made the request September 29th after learning about the chase, but both the sheriff’s office and county dispatch denied the request the next day, citing interference with an ongoing investigation.
The complaint filed Friday in Sangamon County Circuit Court asserts that the denial violates FOIA by failing to state the specific reason for the denial, including a detailed factual basis.
The complaint goes on to state that the county is not the investigating agency, so the exemption cited by the county is applicable “only if release of the record would interfere with an investigation being conducted by the agency that is the recipient of the request.”
Illinois State Police are investigating the death of 43-year old Kirtis Shane Davenport of Kansas City, Kansas as an officer-involved death. Davenport died at a St. Louis hospital four days after he was found on Binny Station Road in rural Staunton. No cause of death has been released. Two Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputies have been put on administrative leave as a result of the State Police investigation and death.
For more than a week following the pursuit, county officials released no information on the pursuit, but after providing limited answers to questions submitted by Capitol News Illinois, Sangamon County Sheriff Paula Crouch issued a press release detailing some of the incident. Crouch had been on the job for just 4 days when the pursuit occurred, after being sworn in as Sheriff Jack Campbell’s replacement in the wake of the Sonya Massey shooting.