DOC Employer Solicitations (Department of Corrections)
| Multi Request | DOC Employer Solicitations |
| Submitted | Aug. 12, 2021 |
| Est. Completion | None |
MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests like this one. Learn more.
Communications
From: Emily Corwin
Attention: Offices of Parole, Probation, Work Release, Transitional Housing and other reentry services.
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Iowa Open Records Law, I hereby request the following records:
Any communications with DOC/department staff created between 1/1/2018 and present documenting solicitations by businesses and industry groups seeking to employ individuals incarcerated or supervised by DOC. Please include department responses.
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.
If you have questions don't hesitate to call me at 802 233 4992.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Emily Corwin
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Iowa Open Records Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 12, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Department of Corrections
This is in response to your request for information in regard to employee
solicitation. We are currently working on this response as the people whom
I have contacted on this have been out of the office. I will get back to
you as soon as I can.
Thanks.
From: Department of Corrections
Hello Emily,
We have received your FOIA request for solicitations of business and
industries seeking to employee incarcerated individuals . Attached is the
copy fee charge, once payment is received we will send you the information
you have requested.
Please make payment by check or money order to: *Treasurer, State of Iowa*
Payment can be sent to:
Iowa Department of Corrections
Attention: Jennifer Bonnett
510 East 12th st.
Des Moines, IA 50319
Thanks.
--
*Jennifer Bonnett*
*Administrative Assistant*
*Office of General Counsel/Inspector General*
*IA Department of Corrections*
*515-725-5795*
*Fax 515-725-5799*
From: Emily Corwin
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks so much for this response. While I may be able to come up with the estimated fee for this search, I wonder if we might discuss your process, key words you are planning to use, personnel whose emails you plan to search, and any other non-electronic records you may be evaluating. Perhaps together we can come up with a more efficient and less costly way to achieve a satisfactory end.
I wonder if a phone call would be possible. I can be reached at 802 233 4992, and am generally available before 3pm ET today, and after 10:30am ET tomorrow.
Many thanks again,
Emily Corwin
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Iowa Open Records Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 12, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Department of Corrections
I was waiting for verification if you wish to continue or not, as the fee
is required. Once payment is received then we can proceed with whatever
parameters you would like me to relay to my contact.
--
*Jennifer Bonnett*
*Administrative Assistant*
*Office of General Counsel/Inspector General*
*IA Department of Corrections*
*515-725-5795*
*Fax 515-725-5799*
From: Emily Corwin
Hi Jennifer,
May I speak with you on the phone before sending the payment? I just gave you a call but there was no voicemail set up. Please tell me a good time to reach you or give me a ring at 802 233 4992.
Many thanks,
Emily Corwin
emily_corwin@harvard.edu
802 233 4992
From: Emily Corwin
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks so much for your call today. Forgive me - I hadn't realized it was you I had been emailing with about this already. There are a handful of states which I've been having similar conversations with.
Since it is only one staff member whose email we are searching, I wonder if this would be the most efficient solution:
- Have Dan Clark make a list of all the instances he can recall of businesses seeking partnerships or workers in the last 4 years and then have him identify those email communications and deem those "responsive records"
- Have him search the following terms and scan the sender and subject lines for any potentially responsive records he may have forgotten about (inquiries from businesses)
- Treat any he finds that seem relevant as potentially responsive records, but no need to review the contents of emails that seem unrelated
As for search terms, please search for the following. If Clark's inbox doesn't include related results or take the boolean wildcard symbol *, please also search the words in parentheses.
SEARCH TERMS:
partner* (partnering, partnership)
labor* (laborer, laborers)
employ* (employee, employing)
work* (worker, working)
contract* (contracting)
Additionally, your mention of the private trailer company piqued my interest. Would someone on Dan's team be able to make me a list of current partnerships with private companies, or should I file that as a separate records request?
Many thanks again for your assistance.
Emily
From: Emily Corwin
Hi Jennifer,
I just wanted to make sure you got the email I sent after our conversations, and check in to see if you have any questions.
Many thanks,
Emily
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Iowa Open Records Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 12, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Department of Corrections
Hi Emily,
As per my previous emails on August 31st and September 16th, we require
payment prior to providing the information requested. As per my phone
conversation with you we talked about search terms and you were seeking
additional info on our ipi partnership with H&H trailers. Since all this
information will be coming from a single source, this is being lumped into
the one request. Once payment has been received then we will provide the
information requested.
Thanks.
--
*Jennifer Bonnett*
*Administrative Assistant*
*Office of General Counsel*
*IA Department of Corrections*
*515-725-5795*
*Fax 515-725-5799*
From: Emily Corwin
Hi Jennifer,
I am confused: the initial fee you gave me of $720 was for a request far broader and likely to take far more time than the much narrower request we have since discussed. Is the fee not a reflection of the actual work required to fulfill a request? Please inform.
Many thanks,
Emily
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Iowa Open Records Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 12, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Iowa Open Records Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 12, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Iowa Open Records Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 12, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Department of Corrections
Hello Emily,
As per our phone conversation a few weeks ago you asked me to see if we
could get the subject/first line of emails pertaining to your FOIA request
for private industries seeking to employ incarcerated individuals, at which
time I told you that most likely it was not possible as we switched email
providers during that time and all I have is the email #. For us to
individually go in and look at 2,163 emails, we could review approx. 20
emails an hour, you are looking at 108 hours of staff time(we charge $45 an
hour for staff time), you are looking at a total of $4860.00. That is not
including the time that myself, and my contact at OCIO have already put
into this search.
Attached is the copy fee charge, once payment is received we will send you
the information you have requested.
Please make payment by check or money order to: *Treasurer, State of Iowa*
Payment can be sent to:
Iowa Department of Corrections
Attention: Jennifer Bonnett
510 East 12th st.
Des Moines, IA 50319
As for any information regarding H&H trailers, that is an arrangement that
has been place for 20+ years, we are talking email correspondence prior to
2000 and Dan Clark did not join us until 2007.
Thanks.
--
*Jennifer Bonnett*
*Administrative Assistant*
*Office of General Counsel*
*IA Department of Corrections*
*515-725-5795*
*Fax 515-725-5799*
From: Emily Corwin
Many thanks for your ongoing assistance with this, Jennifer. Unfortunately, I do not have the funds for these records presently. However, I hope that we can archive this conversation so that I may pick up where we left off if I am able to get funding for the records over the coming months. In the meantime, please consider the request withdrawn.
All best,
Emily Corwin
Files
pages