Personal Inquiry

Good morning Mr. Ricker:

I am an attorney in the Office of General Counsel for the Texas Tech University System. Our office handles requests under the Texas Public Information Act ("Act") for Texas Tech University ("TTU"). On behalf of TTU, we seek to discuss with you how your below request might be narrowed and/or clarified in accordance with Texas Government Code § 552<https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/GV/htm/GV.552.htm>.222(b).

Your request seeks a search of the entire TTU email database, which will require significant CPU time and may require redactions of confidential information protected by statute and student information protected by FERPA. These processes will result in significant cost to you to produce the requested information. Consequently, TTU seeks to discuss with you how the scope of your request might be narrowed and/or clarified. Accordingly, please consider narrowing the specificity regarding the information you seek or providing some subject matter or search terms.

If you do not narrow the scope of your request, the costs to produce such information could be significant, and TTU may be required to file a brief with the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Texas seeking to withhold confidential documents, a process that can take up to 45 business days.

Please simply respond to this request and let us know if you are willing to clarify or narrow the scope of your request in the manner suggested or otherwise. TTU is required to inform you that if you do not respond to this request for clarification or narrowing within sixty-one (61) days from the date of this request, your request will be considered withdrawn.

Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions regarding this request.

Thank you,

[untitled]

Blake Billings
Assistant General Counsel
Texas Tech University System
Box 42021 | Lubbock, Texas 79409-2021
T 806.834.8022 | F 806.742.1224

This communication, including any attachments, originates from an attorney and may contain confidential information, and is intended only for the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. Any review, dissemination, or copying of this communication by anyone other than the intended recipient is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail, and delete and destroy all copies of the original message.

Mr. Ricker,

Good morning Mr. Ricker:

Texas Tech University (“TTU”) is in receipt of your open records request. However, we have determined that complying with the request will result in the imposition of a charge that exceeds $40. Therefore, the following statement is provided pursuant to Texas Government Code §§ 552.2615 and 552.263:

1. The requested information is not currently available for public inspection in the form requested and since the request involves manipulation of data, documents are not feasible to retrieve, will result in substantial interference with ongoing operations and can only be provided at a cost that covers the manipulation of data and other costs, you are entitled to an estimate of the costs and time to provide the information in the requested form. Furthermore, some of the documents you have requested contain protected information and must be redacted prior to release. Therefore, we assessed the various costs of transferring this information to you in the most cost effective method. The itemized statement of estimated charges is:

Item Cost
CPU runtime: 80 minutes @ $10/minute $800.00
Labor: 11.25 hours @ $15/hour $168.75
Overhead @ 20% of redaction Labor $33.00
Estimated Total Cost $1,001.75

2. Pursuant to Texas Government Code § 552.2615, TTU is providing you with an alternative, less expensive method of obtaining some of the requested information: you may narrow your request by eliminating some of the data requested, shortening the time frame, or by stating the department or individual email boxes you want searched. Searching all of the 50,000+ email boxes on the TTU campus requires significant CPU time.

3. Your request will be considered automatically withdrawn if you do not notify us in writing and within ten (10) business days from the date of this statement that you:

a. Accept the estimated charges and will pay them. Because your request is over $100.00, you are required to either deposit $500.87 (50% of the Estimated Total Cost) or provide TTU with a bond for the Estimated Total Cost. Please note that pursuant to Texas Government Code § 552.263(e), your request will be considered received when we receive your payment. Additionally, if you fail to pay within ten (10) business days, your request will be considered withdrawn pursuant to § 552.263(f).

b. Modify the request; or

c. Have sent a complaint to the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Texas alleging that you have been overcharged for a copy of public information.

4. You may choose to respond by email to blake.billings@ttu.edu<mailto:blake.billings@ttu.edu> fax (806-742-1224), regular mail (P.O. Box 45031, Lubbock, TX 79409), or in person to Room 213 of the Administration Building, Texas Tech University at 15th Street and Akron, Lubbock, Texas.

5. Your check, money order, or bond must be made payable to: Texas Tech University.

6. If we determine that a change in estimated charges will exceed the amount in this written itemized statement by 20%, we will send you an updated written itemized statement. As noted above, the same response requirements are imposed on you once an updated itemized statement is sent.

7. TTU expects it will take approximately two (2) weeks to complete this request at current workloads.

8. Finally, some of the documents or information that you have requested may be withheld under State law. Therefore, if you choose to pay the deposit, we may request an Attorney General Open Records Decision (“ORD”) seeking to withhold some documents pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act. Tex. Gov’t Code § 552.001, et seq. Once the Attorney General makes a decision regarding the public disclosure of these documents, TTU will make those documents that are determined by the Attorney General to be public, if any, available for inspection or copying.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

[untitled]

Blake Billings
Assistant General Counsel
Texas Tech University System
Box 42021 | Lubbock, Texas 79409-2021
T 806.834.8022 | F 806.742.1224

This communication, including any attachments, originates from an attorney and may contain confidential information, and is intended only for the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. Any review, dissemination, or copying of this communication by anyone other than the intended recipient is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail, and delete and destroy all copies of the original message.

Good afternoon Mr. Ricker:

We are in receipt of your modified request dated today, January 4, 2019. On behalf of TTU, we seek to discuss with you how your request might be narrowed and/or clarified in accordance with Texas Government Code § 552.222(b).

You have requested 50 pages of responsive documents; however, the information you have requested involves retrieval and manipulation of electronic data rather than existing, printed documents. Emails responsive to your request may be retrieved and converted to printable PDF documents, which will total approximately 325 pages (prior to review for documents or information which may be withheld under state law). Please clarify which 50 pages you wish for us to process (for example, the first 50, the last 50, etc.).

Please note that your modified request will not significantly change the fee estimate we delivered to you this morning. The search criteria you have provided will still require searching all of the 50,000+ email boxes on the TTU campus, requiring significant CPU time (with an estimated cost of $800 for CPU time alone). We would be happy to provide a revised fee estimate based on 50 pages of redaction/review, rather than 325, but note that the new estimate will be somewhere between $800 and the previous estimate of $1.001.75. Consequently, TTU seeks to discuss with you how the scope of your request might be narrowed and/or clarified. Accordingly, please consider narrowing the specificity regarding the information you seek or providing some subject matter or search terms. As another example, you could limit the email inboxes to be searched to certain person(s) or department(s).

If you do not narrow the scope of your request, the costs to produce such information could be significant, and TTU may be required to file a brief with the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Texas seeking to withhold confidential documents, a process that can take up to 45 business days.

Please simply respond to this request and let us know if you are willing to clarify or narrow the scope of your request in the manner suggested or otherwise. TTU is required to inform you that if you do not respond to this request for clarification or narrowing within sixty-one (61) days from the date of this request, your request will be considered withdrawn.

Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions regarding this request. Thank you,

[untitled]

Blake Billings
Assistant General Counsel
Texas Tech University System
Box 42021 | Lubbock, Texas 79409-2021
T 806.834.8022 | F 806.742.1224

This communication, including any attachments, originates from an attorney and may contain confidential information, and is intended only for the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. Any review, dissemination, or copying of this communication by anyone other than the intended recipient is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail, and delete and destroy all copies of the original message.

Good afternoon Mr. Ricker:

Texas Tech University (“TTU”) is in receipt of your open records request dated January 4, 2019, as clarified. However, we have determined that complying with the request will result in the imposition of a charge that exceeds $40. Therefore, the following statement is provided pursuant to Texas Government Code §§ 552.2615 and 552.263:

1. The requested information is not currently available for public inspection in the form requested and since the request involves manipulation of data, documents are not feasible to retrieve, will result in substantial interference with ongoing operations and can only be provided at a cost that covers the manipulation of data and other costs, you are entitled to an estimate of the costs and time to provide the information in the requested form. Furthermore, some of the documents you have requested contain protected information and must be redacted prior to release. Therefore, we assessed the various costs of transferring this information to you in the most cost-effective method. The itemized statement of estimated charges is:

Item Cost
CPU runtime: 80 minutes @ $10/minute $800.00
Labor: 2 hours @ $15/hour $30.00
Overhead @ 20% of redaction Labor $5.25
Estimated Total Cost $835.25

2. Pursuant to Texas Government Code § 552.2615, TTU is providing you with an alternative, less expensive method of obtaining some of the requested information. You may narrow your request by

* Adding additional search terms;
* Stating the college, department, unit, or individual email boxes you want searched;
* Excluding attachments to emails from the request;
* Shortening the timeframe; and/or
* Eliminating some of the data requested.
Please note that searching all of the 50,000+ email boxes on the TTU campus requires significant CPU time and expense to the requestor.

3. Your request will be considered automatically withdrawn if you do not notify us in writing and within ten (10) business days from the date of this statement that you:

a. Accept the estimated charges and will pay them. Because your request is over $100.00, you are required to either deposit $417.62 (50% of the Estimated Total Cost) or provide TTU with a bond for the Estimated Total Cost. Please note that pursuant to Texas Government Code § 552.263(e), your request will be considered received when we receive your payment. Additionally, if you fail to pay within ten (10) business days, your request will be considered withdrawn pursuant to § 552.263(f).

b. Modify the request; or

c. Have sent a complaint to the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Texas alleging that you have been overcharged for a copy of public information.

4. You may choose to respond by email to blake.billings@ttu.edu<mailto:blake.billings@ttu.edu> fax (806-742-1224), regular mail (P.O. Box 45031, Lubbock, TX 79409), or in person to Room 213 of the Administration Building, Texas Tech University at 15th Street and Akron, Lubbock, Texas.

5. Your check, money order, or bond must be made payable to: Texas Tech University.

6. If we determine that a change in estimated charges will exceed the amount in this written itemized statement by 20%, we will send you an updated written itemized statement. As noted above, the same response requirements are imposed on you once an updated itemized statement is sent.

7. TTU expects it will take approximately two (2) weeks to complete this request at current workloads.

8. Finally, some of the documents or information that you have requested may be withheld under State law. Therefore, if you choose to pay the deposit, we may request an Attorney General Open Records Decision (“ORD”) seeking to withhold some documents pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act. Texas Government Code § 552.001, et seq. Once the Attorney General makes a decision regarding the public disclosure of these documents, TTU will make those documents that are determined by the Attorney General to be public, if any, available for inspection or copying.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. You are welcome to contact me by phone at the number below. Thanks,

[untitled]

Blake Billings
Assistant General Counsel
Texas Tech University System
Box 42021 | Lubbock, Texas 79409-2021
T 806.834.8022 | F 806.742.1224

This communication, including any attachments, originates from an attorney and may contain confidential information, and is intended only for the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. Any review, dissemination, or copying of this communication by anyone other than the intended recipient is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail, and delete and destroy all copies of the original message.

Good afternoon Mr. Ricker,

Attached, please find the documents responsive to your below request, combined into a single PDF document. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns regarding this response. Please continue to send new open records requests to Ronny Wall at ronny.wall@ttu.edu<mailto:ronny.wall@ttu.edu>.

Thank you,

[untitled]

Blake Billings
Assistant General Counsel
Box 42021 | Lubbock, Texas 79409-2021
T 806.834.8022 | F 806.742.1224

This communication, including any attachments, originates from an attorney and may contain confidential information, and is intended only for the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. Any review, dissemination, or copying of this communication by anyone other than the intended recipient is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail, and delete and destroy all copies of the original message.