Platte County MO’s ICE e-mails for 2018

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the The Missouri Sunshine Law, I hereby request the following records:

Email messages from any ICE employee to any Platte County Sheriff’s Department employee in 2018.

You can fulfill this request by searching the primary contacts who have interacted with ICE regarding immigration detainees at the Platte County Jail. Searching for “@ice.dhs.gov” between 1/1/18 and 12/31/18 should provide all responsive documents.

I am a member of the news media and request media status. I am writing a news article on the relationship between Platte County and ICE.

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 3 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Matthew Hoppock

Good afternoon and thank you for this message. I am writing to follow up on a few things. First, I had asked for a few waiver as a member of the news media and because the request is for a non commercial purpose. Has that request been granted?

I am also concerned about the rate being charged if fees are not waived. The statute seems to require the county to produce the records “using employees of the body that result in the lowest amount of charges for search, research, and duplication time.” RSMO 610.026.1. It appears $33 per hour does not achieve the statute’s goal.

Finally, because I’m asking for electronic records (e-mails), not paper records, there should t be a per-page production cost per RSMO 610.026.2 (“Fees for providing access to public records maintained on computer facilities, recording tapes or disks, videotapes or films, pictures, maps, slides, graphics, illustrations or similar audio or visual items or devices, and for paper copies larger than nine by fourteen inches shall include only the cost of copies, staff time, which shall not exceed the average hourly rate of pay for staff of the public governmental body required for making copies and programming, if necessary, and the cost of the disk, tape, or other medium used for the duplication. Fees for maps, blueprints, or plats that require special expertise to duplicate may include the actual rate of compensation for the trained personnel required to duplicate such maps, blueprints, or plats.”).

Can you please confirm either that the fees have been waived or that they will be charged at the statutory rate? If it is the latter, would you please let me know the complete fee to be charged before proceeding? Thank you.

Matthew Hoppock

Thanks for looking into this. Yes, I wish to proceed with the request and am willing to remit the required fees.

Good afternoon. I have just mailed you a check as well as a self-addressed, stamped padded envelope for you to mail the CD back to me. Thank you.