DOJ contracts/MOUs re: Houston Processing Center

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

All contracts (and their amendments) and memorandums of understanding entered into by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for services and activities related to the Houston Processing Center (https://www.cca.com/facilities/houston-processing-center). Please include all associated Requests for Proposal, responses, exhibits, and amendments.

This request is being made as part of a journalistic inquiry into public-private corrections partnerships; due to the relevance to current discussion of the criminal justice system and the materials' necessity to the news gathering project at hand, categorization as a news media requester and associated waivers of fees would be appropriate and greatly appreciated.

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 fees cannot be waived, 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 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Beryl C.D. Lipton

Please see the below, which have been told to refer to your office.

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

All contracts (and their amendments) and memorandums of understanding entered into by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for services and activities related to the Houston Processing Center (https://www.cca.com/facilities/houston-processing-center). Please include all associated Requests for Proposal, responses, exhibits, and amendments.

This request is being made as part of a journalistic inquiry into public-private corrections partnerships; due to the relevance to current discussion of the criminal justice system and the materials' necessity to the news gathering project at hand, categorization as a news media requester and associated waivers of fees would be appropriate and greatly appreciated.

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 fees cannot be waived, 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 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Beryl C.D. Lipton

Hello Ms. Espenoza and Ms. Souza,

Thank you very much for your messages. I would like to obtain all responsive materials created since the facility opened. I would be happy to consider narrowing the request depending on the quantity of responsive material.

Best wishes,
Beryl

Hi Cecelia,

Thanks for your speedy response! I was referring to the opening of the facility in 1984. However, I understand that RFPs and the like from that period might be located somewhere else. Do you have a sense for where that would be? Nonetheless, I would like any contracts/MOUs/etc. that are available from EOIR regarding the Houston Processing Center. According to the Department of Justice website (http://www.justice.gov/eoir/houston-service-processing-center): "The Houston Service Processing Center falls under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge which is a component of the Executive Office for Immigration Review under the Department of Justice."

Thanks again for your help, and please let me know if further clarification is necessary.

Best wishes,
Beryl

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on June 10, 2015. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.