Illinois public employees' private messages may be made public.

• Position: PRIVACY - Brief article

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan recently issued a binding decision that the personal e-mail accounts of many types of public employees are subject to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests if those e-mails contain public business, the Illinois News Network reported. The decision is the result of a CNN request to the Chicago Police Department to turn over any personal e-mails that officers may have made concerning the Laquan McDonald shooting.

Legal experts said the ruling will affect municipalities across the state. "Sometimes the easiest thing to do is to pull out a smartphone to text a colleague for a public works project or something similar," Mark Burkland, Holland & Knight senior counsel, said. 'If a water main breaks at 2 a.m., is the public works director not supposed to use their personal device to call or...