from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
to: Kerri Glover <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected]
cc: “John D. Gossett” <[email protected]>, “Carolyn H. Rice” <[email protected]>
date: Jun 14, 2022, 12:17 PM
subject: Re: Records Request: (September 2021) Request for A-B Tech Promotion info 05/01/21 – 07/31/21, and, for institutional financials as of Present Day
Hi Kerri (and all CCed),
Your recent response neither answers nor acknowledges my previous questions or emails since May 17.
Once again — Please provide the last date that either Kerri or Staff followed up with A-B Tech Legal about the status of my public records request (submitted to your offices on September 22, 2021). Under NC Records Law, I am asking that you please provide a status update, timeline for completion, and clear explanation for the reason for the long delay in fulfillment.
The only updates I’ve received to date are as follows:
– September 28, 2021: “We have referred the request to our attorneys for guidance.”
– May 12, 2022: “We have not yet been advised by our attorneys on if or how to respond to the personnel request.”
A-B Tech is required to process all valid public records requests under NC Public Records Law, and these responses indicate that A-B Tech Legal or Staff may be intentionally delaying fulfillment of the request by allowing it to “sit” until they have availability or feel like addressing.
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
——————
To your note about emailing records… if the files are stored / maintained and exist in an electronic format / medium, you are required to provide it to me electronically, which is what I’ve requested:
” § 132-6.2. (a) Persons requesting copies of public records may elect to obtain them in any and all media in which the public agency is capable of providing them. No request for copies of public records in a particular medium shall be denied on the grounds that the custodian has made or prefers to make the public records available in another medium. The public agency may assess different fees for different media as prescribed by law.”
” § 132-6.2. (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a public agency to respond to a request for a copy of a public record by creating or compiling a record that does not exist. If a public agency, as a service to the requester, voluntarily elects to create or compile a record, it may negotiate a reasonable charge for the service with the requester. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a public agency to put into electronic medium a record that is not kept in electronic medium. (1995, c. 388, s. 3; 2004-129, s. 38.)”
Feel free to email the files, send a flash drive, google drive link, etc. I will not be coming in person to your office to “pick up” or “inspect” this contract, and it is not required under the law.
If there will be any further delay and/or you are unwilling to provide this electronic record as required under the law, then kindly let me know you are denying the request, and have legal provide a clear explanation and cite the specific exemption under the law. I will determine how I would like to proceed from there.
Thank you.
~ The Sunshine Request Team
Status:
Clarification Requested
