Editor’s Note: Sunshine Request makes no claim as to the veracity of any statements or information contained in any of the requests, or public records, we receive.
Other (indicate in message) Submitted: July 14, 2023 | Updated: August 25, 2023
(July 2023) Request for Onslow County, NC Government: Copy of 48 page document referenced during Commissioner meetings on 04/03/23 and 06/05/23.
Good afternoon Kevin, Julie, all others CCed,
Please reply promptly to the following public records request, which is being made in accordance with NC Public Records Law.
Ref: https://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bychapter/chapter_132.html
** I’m simply requesting an electronic copy of an electronic record, if one exists. I’m NOT asking to come in person to inspect, nor to obtain a printed copy of, these electronic records. I’m requesting explicitly that any responsive info be provided to me via an electronic medium / format (in which the copy of these records should already exist).
I do not have any further clarifying info I wish to provide to narrow this request. If the request is unclear, or if you are unable to fulfill any or all parts of the request, then please specifically cite where a reason for its denial is justified under NC Public Records Law. **
At 1:40:30 in the recording of the April 03 County Commissioners meeting – Commissioner Scott held up what he called “a 48 page document ... of one of our former employees” and “... [documents of] 5 invoices totaling $72,935.77”. He suggested that those documents should be verified with HR, County Manager, and discussed among “... the citizens and taxpayers of Onslow County”.
A public records request was submitted to the County on May 12, 2023 asking for a copy of the same documents referenced by Mr. Scott. In response, Kevin Reopelle stated via email on June 13 that “Onslow County staff has not been provided with and therefore cannot produce the requested 48 page document. Attached are the invoices responsive to your request.” On June 22 he also wrote that “Onslow County staff have not been provided with the aforementioned [48 page] document.” Although his comments were unclear at the time (he did not explicitly state whether there are “no responsive records” of this document sent To or From anyone within the County, including Mr. Scott’s County email address), I will assume that Kevin was implying “no public record of any such 48 page document exists”.
During the June 05 Commissioners meeting, Mr. Scott again referred to the “48 page document”, and also said that he and Commissioner Foster went to someone’s house for an hour together, to discuss something about that document. He also claimed that Mr. Foster “presented” this document to the County Manager, it was “investigated”, and found to be “unfounded”. At 2:36:20 in the meeting recording, Commissioner Knapp said that “… when you have a document that you wave in an open meeting, and failure to produce that document under Public Records Law, is a violation of the law.” and that “... none of us here have a copy of that document that [Mr. Scott] waived”. To which Mr. Scott (or someone in the audience) replied, “that’s a lie”. Mr. Knapp continued that he does not think other County Commissioners or County Staff have a copy of that document.
At 2:44:50 in the meeting, Commissioner Foster stated that he “... [doesn’t] know what that 48 page document was that [Mr. Scott] held up at that [April] meeting”, but if it was the same one that was received from the “previous meeting [they had] with the individual” that they met with, then he “received a copy as well”.
Please provide a copy of the 48 page document that was received by Mr. Scott and Mr. Foster as referenced above. It is unclear how they came to obtain the document Mr. Scott held up during the April meeting, but if it was received via a County owned account, then I expect this can be located and provided as a matter of public record. If there is any email, SMS text, or FB Messenger exchanges sent To or sent From anyone within the County Government, including Mr. Scott’s and Mr. Foster’s County-owned addresses from March 01, 2023 - July 14, 2023 containing this document, then please provide that record. The County has a legal obligation to do so under NC Public Records Law.
I understand that due to the personal nature of the alleged content contained in the alleged 48 page document, it’s possible that it cannot be provided in its entirety or is confidential in some way and must be redacted in accordance with the law. However, if that is the case then please clearly explain this – and please specify where the denial for this request is justified under NC Public Records Law.
——————
** By submitting this request, I am NOT agreeing to pay any potential fees or associated costs related to my request. If it is not possible to process the request without incurring fees, then please let me know the itemized potential cost and explanations for those charges upfront, and DO NOT proceed until I can respond.
By Law I am not required to provide a name or address to associate with a public records request, but in order to move things along I’d like to clarify that this request is being made by:
Sunshine Request
PO Box 17391
Asheville, NC 28816
The request has been sent solely from the email address [email protected] . If anyone other than that email address contacts you to pursue a similar request, it did not come from me or my Team. Please do not commingle or treat that as an alteration or cancellation of my request – I intend to continue to pursue my request.
Thank you for your assistance!
Status: Government Denied Request
Activity:
-
August 25, 2023 4:13 pm
8 months ago
from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
to: Kevin Reopelle <[email protected]>
cc: [email protected], [email protected], Sharon Griffin <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
date: Aug 25, 2023, 4:13 PM
subject: Re: Public Records Request. (July 2023) Request for Onslow County, NC Government: Copy of 48 page document referenced during Commissioner meetings on 04/03/23 and 06/05/23.Hi Kevin (and all CCed),
As mentioned previously — this is my last attempt to follow up with you regarding my message from July 19. To date I have not received any response / clarification.
from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
to: Kevin Reopelle <[email protected]>
cc: [email protected], [email protected], Sharon Griffin <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
date: Jul 19, 2023, 2:50 PM
subject: Re: Public Records Request. (July 2023) Request for Onslow County, NC Government: Copy of 48 page document referenced during Commissioner meetings on 04/03/23 and 06/05/23.I remain deeply concerned by your unwillingness to respond to public records requests made about this particular topic (the 48 page document referenced by Mr. Scott). This is now the second records request I’ve submitted to you in several months related to this topic — which has continued to go unanswered / denied.
Under NC Public Records Law, the County is required to “promptly” process all public records requests. I am concerned that you may be intentionally delaying fulfillment of requests by allowing them to “sit” until staff has availability, or feels like addressing emails. With this in mind, I want to highlight the court case referenced in item #6 of the following article, posted on the NC Press Association website. In this instance: “The trial court held that an unjustified one-month delay in production of records was tantamount to a denial”. http://www.ncpress.com/stories/a-bakers-dozen-for-2022nc-public-records-law,2390
Having made all reasonable attempts to follow up with you, I’m going to now mark this request as having been “Denied” by your organization. I’ll consider my next steps to address this matter with your Town Manager and Board from here.
Thank you.
~ The Sunshine Request Team
Status: Government Denied Request -
August 16, 2023 12:55 pm
8 months ago
from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
to: Kevin Reopelle <[email protected]>
cc: [email protected], [email protected], Sharon Griffin <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
date: Aug 16, 2023, 12:55 PM
subject: Re: Public Records Request. (July 2023) Request for Onslow County, NC Government: Copy of 48 page document referenced during Commissioner meetings on 04/03/23 and 06/05/23.Good afternoon Kevin (and all CCed),
I’m following up again on my previous message from July 19, and August 07. I have not received any response / clarification.
from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
to: Kevin Reopelle <[email protected]>
cc: [email protected], [email protected], Sharon Griffin <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
date: Jul 19, 2023, 2:50 PM
subject: Re: Public Records Request. (July 2023) Request for Onslow County, NC Government: Copy of 48 page document referenced during Commissioner meetings on 04/03/23 and 06/05/23.Under the law, you are required to process all records requests as promptly as possible.
Having made all reasonable attempts to follow up with you, if I do not hear back in 1 week — at that point, I will mark this request as having been “Denied” by your organization.
~ The Sunshine Request Team
Status: Follow up -
August 7, 2023 2:32 pm
8 months ago
from: Angie Hoffman <[email protected]>
to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
date: Aug 7, 2023, 2:32 PM
subject: Automatic reply: Public Records Request. (July 2023) Request for Onslow County, NC Government: Copy of 48 page document referenced during Commissioner meetings on 04/03/23 and 06/05/23.I will be out of the office on Friday, August 4th, 2023 – Monday, August 14th, 2023. If you need immediate assistance, please contact County Administration at 910-347-4717.
Pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 132, email correspondence to and from this address may be considered public record under the North Carolina Public Records Law and may possibly be disclosed to third parties.
from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
to: Kevin Reopelle <[email protected]>
cc: [email protected], [email protected], Sharon Griffin <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
date: Aug 7, 2023, 2:32 PM
subject: Re: Public Records Request. (July 2023) Request for Onslow County, NC Government: Copy of 48 page document referenced during Commissioner meetings on 04/03/23 and 06/05/23.Hi Kevin and all CCed,
Following up on my previous message:
from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
to: Kevin Reopelle <[email protected]>
cc: [email protected], [email protected], Sharon Griffin <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
date: Jul 19, 2023, 2:50 PM
subject: Re: Public Records Request. (July 2023) Request for Onslow County, NC Government: Copy of 48 page document referenced during Commissioner meetings on 04/03/23 and 06/05/23.I have not received a response / clarification.
I’ll make one more attempt to follow up in another week, if I do not hear back before then.
~ The Sunshine Request Team
Status: Clarification Requested -
July 19, 2023 2:50 pm
9 months ago
from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
to: Kevin Reopelle <[email protected]>
cc: [email protected], [email protected], Sharon Griffin <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
date: Jul 19, 2023, 2:50 PM
subject: Re: Public Records Request. (July 2023) Request for Onslow County, NC Government: Copy of 48 page document referenced during Commissioner meetings on 04/03/23 and 06/05/23.Hi Kevin,
Thanks for your reply. A few items to clarify:
On June 13th you stated in response to a similar request that “.. Onslow County staff has not been provided with and therefore cannot produce the requested 48 page document.” On June 22 you also wrote that “.. Onslow County staff have not been provided with the aforementioned [48 page] document.” Since you did not explicitly state whether or not there were “no responsive records” of this document sent To or From anyone within the County, including Mr. Scott’s County email address — your response was unclear at the time. However, I interpreted that you were implying “no public record of any such 48 page document exists”.
You’re now saying that “.. As indicated to you previously, County Staff is not in possession of the document you have requested” and “.. It is Staff’s understanding that the “48 Page Document” Commissioner Scott referenced has not ever been emailed over the County’s server, nor delivered to County Staff.”
Saying that “County Staff” is not in the possession of the document, continues to be an unclear / confusing response. Do you consider Mr. Scott and Mr. Foster to be members of “County Staff”? Or, have you been intentionally omitting them from your records search? I find it concerning that neither you, IT staff, nor anyone else responsible for fulfilling requests at the County — will state explicitly that “no such document was ever sent to or from either Mr. Scott or Mr. Foster’s County email accounts, Texts, or FB Messenger.”
Similarly, your comment that “… it is Staff’s understanding that this document is no longer in existence, and it was never emailed over the County’s server, nor delivered to County Staff”, is also confusing. Mr. Scott, Mr. Foster, or County Staff, cannot delete or destroy public communications they’ve sent or received in their capacity as County officials, using County-owned accounts. The phrase “no longer in existence” implies that there actually was a public record that may have existed at one point, but it was deleted — which, if that is the case, is a violation of NC Public Records Law.
Can you please clarify once and for all if there is “no record of the 48 page document” … as in, you have performed a communications search of county-owned accounts of all county employees / staff / commissioners, etc. and you cannot find any such document?
If that is the case, then I will consider the request Completed at that point.
Thank you.
Status: Clarification Requested -
July 18, 2023 4:09 pm
9 months ago
from: Kevin Reopelle <[email protected]>
to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
date: Jul 18, 2023, 4:09 PM
subject: Re: Public Records Request. (July 2023) Request for Onslow County, NC Government: Copy of 48 page document referenced during Commissioner meetings on 04/03/23 and 06/05/23.Greetings,
I am in receipt of your below request. As indicated to you previously, County Staff is not in possession of the document you have requested. It is Staff’s understanding that the “48 Page Document” Commissioner Scott referenced has not ever been emailed over the County’s server, nor delivered to County Staff.
Regarding the document that Chairman Foster referenced, it is Staff’s understanding that this document is no longer in existence, and it was never emailed over the County’s server, nor delivered to County Staff. As such, County Staff cannot fulfill your request.
Respectfully,
Kevin Reopelle
Communications Director
Phone 910 989-3194
Web OnslowCountyNC.gov
Email [email protected]
Onslow County Government Center
234 NW Corridor Blvd, Jacksonville NC 28540
Pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 132, email correspondence to and from this address may be considered public record under the North Carolina Public Records Law and may possibly be disclosed to third parties.
Status: Response Received from Government -
July 14, 2023 1:40 pm
9 months ago
from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
to: Kevin Reopelle <[email protected]>
cc: [email protected], [email protected], Sharon Griffin <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
date: Jul 14, 2023, 1:40 PM
subject: Public Records Request. (July 2023) Request for Onslow County, NC Government: Copy of 48 page document referenced during Commissioner meetings on 04/03/23 and 06/05/23.Good afternoon Kevin, Julie, all others CCed,
Please reply promptly to the following public records request, which is being made in accordance with NC Public Records Law.
Ref: https://www.ncleg.net/
enactedlegislation/statutes/ html/bychapter/chapter_132. html ** I’m simply requesting an electronic copy of an electronic record, if one exists. I’m NOT asking to come in person to inspect, nor to obtain a printed copy of, these electronic records. I’m requesting explicitly that any responsive info be provided to me via an electronic medium / format (in which the copy of these records should already exist).
I do not have any further clarifying info I wish to provide to narrow this request. If the request is unclear, or if you are unable to fulfill any or all parts of the request, then please specifically cite where a reason for its denial is justified under NC Public Records Law. **
Please confirm receipt to let me know the request will begin processing, and if possible, please provide a rough estimate of when the request may be completed. I will follow up again in a week, if I have not heard back before then.
Here are the details of the request:
————————————
SUBJECT:
(July 2023) Request for Onslow County, NC Government: Copy of 48 page document referenced during Commissioner meetings on 04/03/23 and 06/05/23.
MESSAGE:
At 1:40:30 in the recording of the April 03 County Commissioners meeting – Commissioner Scott held up what he called “a 48 page document … of one of our former employees” and “… [documents of] 5 invoices totaling $72,935.77”. He suggested that those documents should be verified with HR, County Manager, and discussed among “… the citizens and taxpayers of Onslow County”.
A public records request was submitted to the County on May 12, 2023 asking for a copy of the same documents referenced by Mr. Scott. In response, Kevin Reopelle stated via email on June 13 that “Onslow County staff has not been provided with and therefore cannot produce the requested 48 page document. Attached are the invoices responsive to your request.” On June 22 he also wrote that “Onslow County staff have not been provided with the aforementioned [48 page] document.” Although his comments were unclear at the time (he did not explicitly state whether there are “no responsive records” of this document sent To or From anyone within the County, including Mr. Scott’s County email address), I will assume that Kevin was implying “no public record of any such 48 page document exists”.
During the June 05 Commissioners meeting, Mr. Scott again referred to the “48 page document”, and also said that he and Commissioner Foster went to someone’s house for an hour together, to discuss something about that document. He also claimed that Mr. Foster “presented” this document to the County Manager, it was “investigated”, and found to be “unfounded”. At 2:36:20 in the meeting recording, Commissioner Knapp said that “… when you have a document that you wave in an open meeting, and failure to produce that document under Public Records Law, is a violation of the law.” and that “… none of us here have a copy of that document that [Mr. Scott] waived”. To which Mr. Scott (or someone in the audience) replied, “that’s a lie”. Mr. Knapp continued that he does not think other County Commissioners or County Staff have a copy of that document.
At 2:44:50 in the meeting, Commissioner Foster stated that he “… [doesn’t] know what that 48 page document was that [Mr. Scott] held up at that [April] meeting”, but if it was the same one that was received from the “previous meeting [they had] with the individual” that they met with, then he “received a copy as well”.
Please provide a copy of the 48 page document that was received by Mr. Scott and Mr. Foster as referenced above. It is unclear how they came to obtain the document Mr. Scott held up during the April meeting, but if it was received via a County owned account, then I expect this can be located and provided as a matter of public record. If there is any email, SMS text, or FB Messenger exchanges sent To or sent From anyone within the County Government, including Mr. Scott’s and Mr. Foster’s County-owned addresses from March 01, 2023 – July 14, 2023 containing a copy of this document, then please provide that record. The County has a legal obligation to do so under NC Public Records Law.
I understand that due to the personal nature of the alleged content contained in the alleged 48 page document, it’s possible that it cannot be provided in its entirety or is confidential in some way and must be redacted in accordance with the law. However, if that is the case then please clearly explain this – and please specify where the denial for this request is justified under NC Public Records Law.
————————————
** By submitting this request, I am NOT agreeing to pay any potential fees or associated costs related to my request. If it is not possible to process the request without incurring fees, then please let me know the itemized potential cost and explanations for those charges upfront, and DO NOT proceed until I can respond.By Law I am not required to provide a name or address to associate with a public records request, but in order to move things along I’d like to clarify that this request is being made by:
Sunshine Request
PO Box 17391
Asheville, NC 28816
The request has been sent solely from the email address [email protected] . If anyone other than that email address contacts you to pursue a similar request, it did not come from me or my Team. Please do not commingle or treat that as an alteration or cancellation of my request – I intend to continue to pursue my request.
Thank you for your assistance!
** Sunshine Request (www.sunshinerequest.com) makes no claim as to the veracity of any statements or information contained in any of the requests, or public records, we receive.
Status: Sent to Government -
July 14, 2023 1:28 pm
9 months ago
Submitted to Sunshine Request
Status: Pending