Inmate Labor (Department of Corrections)
| Multi Request | Inmate Labor |
| Submitted | Sept. 8, 2020 |
| Est. Completion | Oct. 14, 2020 |
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Communications
From: Julia Rock
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Rhode Island Access to Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
All documents pertaining to the use of inmate labor in all prisons in the state produced between February 1, 2020 and today’s date. Please understand documents to include, but not be limited to, work directives, policies and protocols for work, reports on materials produced, and any other documents related to inmate labor.
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, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Julia Rock
From: Department of Corrections
SENT ON BEHALF OF EXECUTIVE LEGAL COUNSEL, KATHLEEN M. KELLY, ESQ.
Dear Ms. Rock: Please see the attached which is being sent to you on behalf of Executive Legal Counsel, Kathleen M. Kelly, Esq., in response to your five (5) recent APRA requests.
Thank you.
Diane M. Gill
Office Manager
Rhode Island Department of Corrections
Office of Legal Counsel
40 Howard Avenue
Cranston, RI 02920
Phone: (401) 462.5168
Fax: (401) 462.2583
Email: Diane.Gill@doc.ri.gov<mailto:Diane.Gill@doc.ri.gov>
From: Department of Corrections
SENT ON BEHALF OF EXECUTIVE LEGAL COUNSEL, KATHLEEN M. KELLY, ESQ.
Dear Ms. Rock: Please see the attached which is being sent to you on behalf of Executive Legal Counsel, Kathleen M. Kelly, Esq., in response to your five (5) recent APRA requests.
Thank you.
Diane M. Gill
Office Manager
Rhode Island Department of Corrections
Office of Legal Counsel
40 Howard Avenue
Cranston, RI 02920
Phone: (401) 462.5168
Fax: (401) 462.2583
Email: Diane.Gill@doc.ri.gov<mailto:Diane.Gill@doc.ri.gov>
From: Department of Corrections
SENT ON BEHALF OF EXECUTIVE LEGAL COUNSEL, KATHLEEN M. KELLY, ESQ.
Dear Ms. Rock: Please see the attached correspondence which is being forwarded to you on behalf of Executive Legal Counsel, Kathleen M. Kelly, Esq., in response to your recent APRA requests.
Thank you.
Diane M. Gill
Office Manager
Rhode Island Department of Corrections
Office of Legal Counsel
40 Howard Avenue
Cranston, RI 02920
Phone: (401) 462.5168
Fax: (401) 462.2583
Email: Diane.Gill@doc.ri.gov<mailto:Diane.Gill@doc.ri.gov>
From: Julia Rock
Can you send a breakdown of costs by each separate request? Thanks!
From: Department of Corrections
Dear Ms. Rock:
Pursuant to your request for a breakdown of the costs for each request:
1. Communications with friends and families of incarcerated persons from 3/1/2020 forward – Staff at each facility must search individual files, emails and computer records to respond. Also, the PIO must search the DOC’s Facebook and twitter accounts. It took the DOC’s PIO 5 hours just to search social media records. Once the information is received, I must go thru and redact all individually identifiable information. This process was originally estimated to take 8 – 10 hours, but it will clearly take longer than that time. $150.00 estimated (but again this estimate is low).
2. All communications from the Director’s office to Corrections staff - It took five hours for this information to be gathered and it will take me an additional 2 hours to review and redact certain information. $105.00 is estimated for this request.
3. Documents that relate to inmate labor from 2/1/2020 to present, including work directives, policies, protocols, reports on materials produced and ANY other documents that relate to inmate labor. - Staff in each facility, as well as correctional industries, must gather this information. Records are in email and computer form, and may also be in hard copy form. It took staff in each facility a total of 12 hours to gather the records they have sent to me so far. Again, I must redact individually identifiable information. Also, it is likely other records will be gathered, which are not in the cost estimate provided to you. The current cost is $180.00 but the process is not complete.
4. Copies of communications, memos, directives, etc., to inmates regarding COVID 19, since March 1, 2020. Again, staff in each facility must retrieve all this information. some information was previously gathered to respond to a similar APRA request. Those costs are not being assessed to your request; however, additional documents exist and must be gathered by searching computers, emails and files. The estimate was a total of eight hours for all facilities to gather the data and two hours for my review. The estimated cost is $150.00.
5. Copies of all use of force reports from 3/1/2020 to the present. I am currently reviewing to determine what if any information is public. The estimate for this is unclear. However, since the estimated cost of $495.00 is already exceeded it seems unnecessary to determine at this time.
As I stated in my initial letter, these are estimates. It appears that in reality my estimate was low. Also, the above response does not include the cost of copying, if that is necessary.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Kelly
From: Department of Corrections
Dear Ms. Rock:
Pursuant to your request for a breakdown of the costs for each request:
1. Communications with friends and families of incarcerated persons from 3/1/2020 forward – Staff at each facility must search individual files, emails and computer records to respond. Also, the PIO must search the DOC’s Facebook and twitter accounts. It took the DOC’s PIO 5 hours just to search social media records. Once the information is received, I must go thru and redact all individually identifiable information. This process was originally estimated to take 8 – 10 hours, but it will clearly take longer than that time. $150.00 estimated (but again this estimate is low).
2. All communications from the Director’s office to Corrections staff - It took five hours for this information to be gathered and it will take me an additional 2 hours to review and redact certain information. $105.00 is estimated for this request.
3. Documents that relate to inmate labor from 2/1/2020 to present, including work directives, policies, protocols, reports on materials produced and ANY other documents that relate to inmate labor. - Staff in each facility, as well as correctional industries, must gather this information. Records are in email and computer form, and may also be in hard copy form. It took staff in each facility a total of 12 hours to gather the records they have sent to me so far. Again, I must redact individually identifiable information. Also, it is likely other records will be gathered, which are not in the cost estimate provided to you. The current cost is $180.00 but the process is not complete.
4. Copies of communications, memos, directives, etc., to inmates regarding COVID 19, since March 1, 2020. Again, staff in each facility must retrieve all this information. some information was previously gathered to respond to a similar APRA request. Those costs are not being assessed to your request; however, additional documents exist and must be gathered by searching computers, emails and files. The estimate was a total of eight hours for all facilities to gather the data and two hours for my review. The estimated cost is $150.00.
5. Copies of all use of force reports from 3/1/2020 to the present. I am currently reviewing to determine what if any information is public. The estimate for this is unclear. However, since the estimated cost of $495.00 is already exceeded it seems unnecessary to determine at this time.
As I stated in my initial letter, these are estimates. It appears that in reality my estimate was low. Also, the above response does not include the cost of copying, if that is necessary.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Kelly
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