Shelby County Health Department PODs MOUs

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to Tennessee's Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

Copies of all memorandums of understanding between the Shelby County Health Department and non-government agency partners within the county, for PODs, including MOUs that were not signed. The existence of these these MOUs was acknowledged by Janet Shipman, of the County Attorney's Office, in an email dated September 3, 2014 sent to both myself and Assistant County Attorney Megan Smith. Additionally, the existence of these documents was acknowledged by Shelby County Health Department Risk Communications Supervisor Kasia Smith-Alexander immediately after the October 2012 door-to-door medication delivery exercise.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

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 and make the documents available for inspection. 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 7 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Carlton Purvis

Megan,

Sorry for the confusion. I have a separate email address for each request to keep track of them. As for this request, please see the appeal below:

On September 24, 2014 I requested under the Tennessee Public Records Act:

Copies of all memorandums of understanding between the Shelby County Health Department and non-government agency partners within the county, for PODs, including MOUs that were not signed. The existence of these these MOUs was acknowledged by Janet Shipman, of the County Attorney's Office, in an email dated September 3, 2014 sent to both myself and Assistant County Attorney Megan Smith. Additionally, the existence of these documents was acknowledged by Shelby County Health Department Risk Communications Supervisor Kasia Smith-Alexander immediately after the October 2012 door-to-door medication delivery exercise.

Disclosure of these documents is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the local government. I think it's safe to say that the general public knows next to nothing about PODs or how they would be used during a pandemic or the role local businesses play in pandemic response.

On September 29, 2014 I received a response from the county attorney's office saying "there are no public records responsive to your request."

I am appealing this outcome mainly because the County Attorney's office has already indicated that the documents exist. In an email on September 3, 2014 from Janet Shipman to you and myself she wrote:

"We received the records from the Emergency Preparedness program, and I have initially reviewed the names of the agencies with MOUs for PODs. I did not find any companies that I would consider Fortune 500 companies. The only one that came close was Morgan Keegan some years ago and then they refused to sign the MOU.
Can someone get me a list of Fortune 500 companies? All I saw were government-related agencies and that sort of partner."

This email references "the records" and also seems to indicate that the records that you're saying don't exist were actually in-hand on or around September 3, 2014. Shipman specifically says she "reviewed the names of the agencies with MOUs for PODs."

Additionally, the documents that were withheld must be disclosed under the Public Records Act because they fall in the category of public records as defined by the Tennessee statute. The statute defines public records as "all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, microfilms, electronic data processing files and output, films, sound recordings or other material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by any governmental agency."

I also ask that any research fees for this request be waived as this information has already been researched at this point. I am only asking that copies of "the records" referenced by Janet Shipman, be provided or made available for inspection.

Have a good afternoon,

Carlton Purvis