Will County seeks new state law to end 'frivolous' lawsuits by inmates
Will County Sheriff officials are seeking a state law to limit the amount of “frivolous” lawsuits and information requests filed by Will County jail inmates.
Deputy Christine Miller, one of the Freedom of Information Act officers for the sheriff's department, said "80 to 120 requests" are submitted per day from the county's 750 to 800 inmates. The issues have ranged from harmless complains, such as the nutritional information of the food or the brand of toilet paper being used, to more concerning problems that have led to jail lockdowns and cell searches.
On Tuesday, Miller, along with Undersheriff Bob Contro and Deputy Chief Brian Conser, pressed the county board’s Legislative and Policy Committee to create a law that would limit the number of FOIAs and lawsuits.
This law would not be wholly uncommon as other states have laws regarding what can be filed as a FOIA or lawsuit. According to Wisconsin state law, inmates can only request information that pertains to their own case or that of their minor children and are limited to three civil lawsuits per year, stated officials.
Miller said that responding to these requests not only takes up a “big chunk” of her day but that the issue is further complicated because not all questions are files as an FOIA as inmates often use the jail’s standard form to request supplies. Furthermore, some submissions that were intended to be FOIAs but not filed as such have lead to numerous lawsuits against the county.
“They say they meant it as a FOIA, but how are we supposed to know?” Miller said, “They can request anything. It’s like a game to them”
Deputy Chief Conser said that if there was a state law that mimicked the federal prison limit of three civil lawsuits per inmate per year, "we could stop a lot of these frivolous lawsuits."
He also stated that multiple inmates have lost their “good time credit” for filing lawsuits that were determined to be frivolous.
Brent Hassert, the county's state lobbyist, cautioned that "any time you deal with FOIAs and rights, there is more push back than you realize." However, he said he would be looking into the matter further.
