Coronavirus: McHenry County Sheriff Wins In Health Dept. Lawsuit

MCHENRY COUNTY, IL – McHenry County State's Attorney Patrick Kenneally announced Monday morning that Judge Michael Chmiel entered a temporary restraining order mandating the McHenry County Health Department to disclose the names of those currently infected with the coronavirus to law enforcement. The McHenry County State's Attorney's office filed the lawsuit for the sheriff's office, and after filing, Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, McHenry and Woodstock police departments joined, according to a news release from the state's attorney's office.

“(SIC) It’s critical that law enforcement receive this information in a timely fashion so we can keep our officers healthy in order to continue providing the best possible service to our communities,” Sheriff Prim said, in the news release.

Before filing the lawsuit, the sheriff requested that the McHenry County Health Department
provide the names and addresses of those currently infected with the coronavirus to the
McHenry County Emergency Telephone System Board (ETSB), which oversees 911 dispatch in McHenry County, according to the news release. This information would then only be available to law enforcement officers, on a call-by-call basis, who are dispatched or responding to situations that involve people affected by the coronavirus, the state's attorney's office added.

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However, despite being assured that law enforcement officers would prioritize the
confidentiality of this sensitive medical information and direction from federal and state officials that the disclosure was permissible, the health department refused to do so, according to the news release. Therefore, the lawsuit was filed.

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“This was a no-brainer for the Health Department, a common-sense, confidential, and entirely lawful way they could have worked collaboratively with police departments to assist in enhancing the safety of officers and the community in these dangerous times, and they strangely refused,” Kenneally said, in the news release. “The fact that we had to spend precious time and public resources, clearly best spent elsewhere in this difficult time, to get a court order in our favor is beyond disappointing.”

In accordance with the emergency court order entered late Friday night, the Health Department must disclose the names of those currently infected with the coronavirus to the ETSB within 24-hours of being notified, according to the news release. The court ordered further that any names received shall be thrown out from ETSB records “7 days after the Department of Public Health deems these individuals to no longer be contagious,” the news release said, adding that lastly, the court ordered that “all information received by the ETSB shall remain and be kept confidential.”