Aging Fines

Good morning Dan.

Your request for "all documents" related to Grant Ezra Metts's aging fines is overly broad.
Please provide a more detailed description of the documents you seek so I may properly respond to your request.

You recently made a similar request related to Daryl Gould. I asked for a more detailed description of the documents you sought in that matter as well, but have received no response from you.

Please contact me if you have any questions.
Regards,
Richard E. Thornton
Director of Campaign Finance
RI Board of Elections
(401) 222-1907

Dear Dan Coates,

I sent a portion of the reply appearing below to you previously. It explains the assessment of fines and fees and the written notices sent:

A candidate who fails to file a campaign finance report by its prescribed due date is sent a Notice of Non-Compliance by first-class mail, apprising him or her that a $25 fine has been assessed and requesting the report be filed, if not already done so.

If the candidate does not file the outstanding report in response to the Notice, a second Notice of Non-Compliance is sent by certified mail and a $2/day fee accrues to the $25 fine if the outstanding report is not filed within 7 days.

This process repeats itself for any report that is not filed by its prescribed due date.

In the cases of Gould and Metts, multiple reports are past due, each one assessed a $25 fine AND each one accruing $2/day fee. Reports will continue to be due until the candidate dissolves his account with the Board of Elections.
In addition to the written Notices, phone calls are made, emails sent (provided the Board has a valid email address).
I hope this information helps you to better understand the Board's assessment of fines for delinquent campaign finance reports and its Board's collection efforts.

Please indicate if you wish me to proceed with your request. If you do, I will provide a cost estimate for search and retrieval of the documents responsive to your request.
Regards,
Richard E. Thornton
Director of Campaign Finance
RI Board of Elections

January 13, 2020

Dear Dan Coates,

Under the provisions of the Access to Public Records Act ("APRA"), RI General Law §38-2, you requested a copy of the notices sent to Daryl Gould and Grant Ezra Metts relative to their aging fines.

The documents responsive to your request are attached.
Please be advised that, consistent with State law and policy adopted by the Board of Elections ("Board"), the Board will charge $15.00 per hour for the search and retrieval time required to respond to the request, whether the request seeks copies of records or the right to inspect records; provided, however, there will be no charge for the first hour of search and retrieval time. Since the search and retrieval time for records responsive to your request took one hour, no charge will be assessed to you.

If you believe you have been denied access to public records, you have a right to file a review petition with the Executive Director of the Rhode Island Board of Elections, 50 Branch Avenue, Providence, RI 02904. If you are still not satisfied, you may file an appeal with the Attorney General or initiate proceedings in Superior Court.

The Rhode Island Board of Elections is committed to providing you with public records in an expeditious and courteous manner.
Regards,

Richard E. Thornton

Director of Campaign Finance/APRA Coordinator

RI Board of Elections

I am uncertain what this latest email refers to. Would you please clarify?
You state that it is a follow up to a previous request…for which I provided documents responsive to your request….but provide no additional information.