FOIA Request: Previous Requests for POST Certification Data

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Montana Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

All requests received by POST seeking certification and employment history data for all active and/or inactive law enforcement officers in Montana. Please include the request received by POST and any written correspondence between the requester and POST, including the final response letter from POST. Please search both the official POST public records inbox as well as the personal work inbox of any POST employees who may have responded to such a request. The timeframe for this request is from January 1, 2017 to the present date.

We are seeking this information as a news media organization on a matter of public interest concerning the conduct of government. As such, we ask for a waiver of all fees, if allowed under state law. If fees are necessary to reimburse the agency for actual costs, we agree to pay up to $100. If costs exceed that amount, please let us know before fulfilling the request.

Thank you

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 10 business days.

Sincerely,

Sam Stecklow

OK. To be clear, we are only seeking the request and response correspondence, not the actual public records that were released or withheld.

Sam Stecklow
Invisible Institute