Expenditures relating to visits from federal officials (Department of Correction)

Emma North-Best filed this request with the Department of Correction of Indiana.
Multi Request Expenditures relating to visits from federal officials
Est. Completion None
Status
Fix Required

Communications

From: Emma North-Best


To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Indiana Access to Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

Records describing, authorizing or mentioning expenses or personnel assignments in response to or accommodation of visits from officials in the federal government between January 1, 2001 and the present.

I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000 readers in outlets such as Gizmodo, MuckRock, Motherboard, Property of the People, Unicorn Riot, and The Outline, among others. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through non-profits such as the library Internet Archive and the journalist non-profit MuckRock, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance.

As my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available, I request that fees be waived.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 7 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Emma Best

From: Department of Correction

Good Morning -

After reviewing your request, we have determined that greater clarity is needed before we can begin searching for records. Indiana's public records law (APRA) requires a request for public records to be made with "reasonable particularity." Indiana's Public Access Counselor (PAC) has published numerous advisory opinions on the topic of reasonable particularity. This is necessary for any agency to correctly and efficiently locate and disclose records responsive to a request. For example, the PAC advises that requests for emails include a specifically named sender and recipient, a date range of less than six months, and search terms.

Your current request asks the Department of Correction to search all records regarding visits from federal government officials. While you have provided a date range for records, there are few other specifics in your request to allow us to begin searching. To enable us to conduct the search, please narrow your request by providing specific types of records, search terms or keywords, and specific senders and recipients.

To be clear, the Indiana Department of Correction is not denying your request; The Department of Correction is asking that your public records request be amended to satisfy the legal requirements of APRA. After receipt of your amended request, responsive records will be identified and gathered. It may be that some records will be produced subject to redaction and other documents may be withheld as permitted by applicable law. Pursuant to Indiana Code ยง 5-14-3-3, disclosable records will be provided in a reasonable period of time.

If you have any questions regarding this request, please do not hesitate to contact us.

IDOC Public Records

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