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.
Editor’s Note 06/28/23: The submission(s) above have been marked as “Completed”. As written, it is unclear what specific public records the sender would like to receive.
For example: The “Start / End Date” indicated in [ REQUEST # 1 ] does not make sense when compared to the dates in the request’s actual Message. Are you hoping to receive all records starting on September 01, 2022? Or, is the start date September 12, 2023 ?
Additionally: All of the requests would be Public Records Requests being made under the NC Public Records Law. The “Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA)” the sender referenced, seems to be related specifically to the United Kingdom [UK].
Also: Each request covers a large period of time — and since there is no specific subject matter, keywords, or other information provided, we find the requests to be overly broad / vague. In our experience, the requests would also be too vague for the Disclosing agency to fulfill (as written currently), or, there would likely be additional clarification needed, as well as a special service charge [fee] to process the requests.
We understand the sender might just want to receive “all emails” or “all text messages” during a period of time. However, as written the requests cast a wide net potentially including lots of sensitive info that needs to be reviewed by the disclosing agency (particularly because it’s related to a school system). It is also unlikely to be provided in an “un-redacted” form by the disclosing agency. Even if it were — as a policy, our Sunshine Request team does not fulfill or publish those types of records on our website (confidential or sensitive information about students).
We’d ask that the sender please submit any new request(s) to clearly indicate any specific details, subject matter, message, etc. about the exact public records that are being requested, and to what entity the request is being made. Clarifying all of this info will help to greatly narrow the scope of the request, and it will also reduce the amount of time it takes Orange County Schools (as well as our team) to process the requests.
Additionally, please note:
Sunshine Request does not control if / when Government entities will confirm receipt, begin processing, complete, or deny requests we submit to them via our website. If you would like to make a request that is time sensitive, we recommend that you reach out to the appropriate government entity directly for assistance with a request, rather than submitting through our site.
Sunshine Request is run by a very small team. Due to holidays, unforeseen events / scheduling conflicts, there may be times that we cannot publish or update requests for several days. We will do our best to process all requests as quickly as possible.
We review and send in requests to the appropriate entities as quickly as we are able, and it is up to the Government agency to determine the timeline and speed with which the request can be processed. We generally try to follow up on requests once every 1 – 2 weeks as we’re able, until the government agency has confirmed that the request has been received and is being processed (and there is some timeline for completion), and we will wait to follow up again during the time period they specify.
Please do not send us additional submissions asking that we “follow up on” a request on our site, or to ask for a status update on a request. If at any time you would like to track the status of your request, please “Search” for your request via the “Search box”, or by viewing the list of requests on the View All Requests page. Any updates we receive will be posted on our site as soon as we are able.
Sunshine Request will not fulfill the following types of requests:
☀️ Requests that are incomplete, non-specific, or vague.
While we do proofread requests we receive for general spelling and clarity, we may choose not to fulfill the request if it is incomplete, or it is unclear what specific information the requester hopes to receive. In this case, the sender may rewrite and resubmit the request.
It’s the requester’s responsibility to write the request in a manner that clearly specifies a record that is being requested, and to what government entity it should be sent.
☀️ Requests for public safety information specific to a single individual, address, incident or name.
This includes police reports, calls for service, complaints / incident reports / citations, criminal / arrest type records, or camera footage. We will, on a case by case basis, fulfill public safety related requests that focus on system-level trends and data.
Due to the personal nature of this type of information, we recommend that the sender reach out directly to the appropriate entity for assistance with the request.
☀️ Requests that include profanity, personal statements, opinions, possibly defamatory statements, or other unnecessary info that is not relevant to making a records request.
Please do not include personal opinions and statements in the request’s Subject or Message. Please omit any extraneous statements that are not specific to the exact information you’d like to receive. This is not relevant information pertinent to the processing of a records request, and the request will not be published.
☀️ Please be specific:
It is important that what you are requesting is specific and reasonable, and is an actionable records request. Please specify the exact type of records you’d like to receive, rather than any “possible” or “potential” info that could be searched. Remember that the larger your request, the more time it usually takes to fulfill. Specificity will often help reduce the amount of time needed to process the request.
It is important that a request has a clearly written and complete Subject and Message, and also specifies the Government Entity (or entities), City and/or County, and State to which the request should be sent. If applicable, please also include any responsive timelines for the info that should be requested.
While we do proofread requests we receive for general spelling and clarity, we may choose not to fulfill the request if it is incomplete, or it is unclear what specific info the requester hopes to receive, or if it violates our policies.
Before submitting a request, please take a moment to review our tips for How to write and make a successful request. If you have additional questions about our site or how to make requests, please check out our FAQs or Policies page.
☀️ Code of Conduct: Please do not use Sunshine Request or any of the results of public records requests to harass government entities / employees, businesses, private citizens / individuals, or otherwise.
☀️ Please note that we cannot pay any fees / associated costs related to any of the requests on our site. If it is not possible for a Government Agency to process our request without incurring fees, then it is the responsibility of that Agency to let us know what the potential costs may be — at which point we will ask that they cease processing the request. We will mark the request as “Completed” on our site, and the sender can contact the Government Agency directly, should they wish to further pursue a request.
Thank you for using Sunshine Request!