(September 2023) Request for St. Charles County, MO: All emails and texts sent By County Elections Director or Staff, related to the 2022 MO House District 105 election. From 08/01/2022 – 04/01/2023.

Activity:

• September 29, 2023 3:24 pm

  7 months ago

  from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
  to: “Mueth, Michael” <[email protected]>
  date: Sep 29, 2023, 3:24 PM
  subject: Re: Response to 9/20/23 Sunshine Law Request

   

  Hi Michael,

   

  Thanks for clarifying.

   

  Sunshine Request is a community project built by PRC Applications (in Asheville, NC). We use our technical skills to help our community through projects that improve the interactions between citizens and government. We built Sunshine Request to make it easier for citizens to make public records requests, turning a complicated government process into a simple form on our site. Our team serves as a proxy between citizens and local government, which allows public records requests to be submitted anonymously.

   

  However, we cannot agree to pay any fees or associated costs related to any of the requests we submit through our website.

   

  I will now close this records request (and you can too), and I will mark it as “Completed” on our website. I have posted the info you’ve provided — and I encourage any future requestors to reach out to your office directly for assistance, should they wish to further pursue a similar request, or to pay fees for such records.

   

  Thank you for your help!

   

  ~ The Sunshine Request Team

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  Status: Completed
• September 29, 2023 2:32 pm

  7 months ago

  from: Mueth, Michael <[email protected]>
  to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
  date: Sep 29, 2023, 2:32 PM
  subject: RE: Response to 9/20/23 Sunshine Law Request

   

  St. Charles County does not charge for attorney review/research time. The $57.69 fee is the actual cost of the hour Director Bahr spent locating and compiling records in order to fulfill your request. Since you requested electronic records, there is no charge for paper copies or duplicating time. St. Charles County will not waive the $57.69 fee.

   

  Michael Mueth

  Associate County Counselor

  St. Charles County Government – County Counselor

  100 North Third Street, Suite 216, St. Charles, MO 63301

  O 636-949-7900 ext. 3775 | [email protected]

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  Status: Response Received from Government
• September 26, 2023 3:33 pm

  7 months ago

  from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
  to: “Mueth, Michael” <[email protected]>
  cc: Registrar <[email protected]>
  date: Sep 26, 2023, 3:33 PM
  subject: Re: Response to 9/20/23 Sunshine Law Request

   

  Hi Michael,

   

  Thank you for your response.

   

  I am not as well-versed in Missouri’s Record Requests Laws as I am with North Carolina’s. Particularly – on the topic of charging fees for producing emails, and how “research time” is defined.

   

  I reviewed the relevant statutes you cited, and I’d like to ask for clarification of the following (underlined):

   

  In part, § 610.026.1 says that,

   

  “Fees for copying public records, except those records restricted under section 32.091, shall not exceed ten cents per page for a paper copy not larger than nine by fourteen inches, with the hourly fee for duplicating time not to exceed the average hourly rate of pay for clerical staff of the public governmental body. Research time required for fulfilling records requests may be charged at the actual cost of research time. Based on the scope of the request, the public governmental body shall produce the copies using employees of the body that result in the lowest amount of charges for search, research, and duplication time.”

   

  “… Documents may be furnished without charge or at a reduced charge when the public governmental body determines that waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the public governmental body and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester;”

   

  And that, “(2021)  Section does not authorize a public governmental body to charge attorney review time as research time required for fulfilling records requests. Gross v. Parson, 624 S.W.3d 877 (Mo.banc).”

   

  Your letter says that,

   

  “The actual cost of one hour of research time for fulfilling your records request is $57.69. See § 610.026.1, RSMo. Payment is required in advance. See § 610.026.2, RSMo Since you have requested electronic copies and they can be transmitted by email, there is no cost for copying/duplicating time or for a medium used for duplication.”

   

  It is my understanding that when responding to a request for copies of its records, a public body in Missouri can charge only the actual cost of document search and duplication. Since we’ve established that in my case there will be no time charged for copying / duplicating emails, can you please clarify how $57.69 (“one hour of research time required for fulfilling” my request) is being defined / calculated? Was that 1 hour of your time, a member of Staff’s, redacting, etc.? What exactly is being “researched” ?

   

  Additionally. I’d like to note that I personally have no commercial interest in this request, and I do not benefit monetarily by making the request or sharing its results. Please take into consideration whether you can produce these records “without [any] charge” – given the nature of the request being made:

   

  “all e-mails and SMS text messages sent From the St. Charles County Elections Director or Staff, during the time period of 08/01/2022 through 04/01/2023. Specifically – I’m only requesting correspondence related to the 2022 Missouri House District 105 election and subsequent recount request in Missouri House District 105.”

   

  My goal is simply to help get the request fulfilled and made publicly available — as this topic has been / is in the public interest, and this further increases government transparency.

   

  Thank you for your help!

   

  ~ The Sunshine Request Team

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  Status: Clarification Requested
• September 25, 2023 4:59 pm

  7 months ago

  from: Mueth, Michael <[email protected]>
  to: “[email protected]” <[email protected]>
  cc: Registrar <[email protected]>
  date: Sep 25, 2023, 4:59 PM
  subject: Response to 9/20/23 Sunshine Law Request

   

  Please find attached St. Charles County’s response to your September 20, 2023, Sunshine Law request.

   

  Michael Mueth

  Associate County Counselor

  St. Charles County Government – County Counselor

  100 North Third Street, Suite 216, St. Charles, MO 63301

  O 636-949-7900 ext. 3775 | [email protected]

   

  **Editor’s Note: Please see the 1 file referenced (“Response-to-9-20-23-Sunshine-Law-Request.pdf”) at top left in our Documents section.

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  Status: Response Received from Government
• September 20, 2023 6:48 pm

  7 months ago

  from: InfoSystems <[email protected]>
  to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
  date: Sep 20, 2023, 6:48 PM
  subject: Automatic reply: Public Records Request. (September 2023) Request for St. Charles County, MO: All emails and texts sent By County Elections Director or Staff, related to the 2022 MO House District 105 election. From 08/01/2022 – 04/01/2023.

   

  This mailbox is NOT MONITORED. If you are trying to reach Information Systems, please use “[email protected]”

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  Status: Sent to Government
• September 20, 2023 6:47 pm

  7 months ago

  from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
  to: [email protected]
  cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
  date: Sep 20, 2023, 6:47 PM
  subject: Public Records Request. (September 2023) Request for St. Charles County, MO: All emails and texts sent By County Elections Director or Staff, related to the 2022 MO House District 105 election. From 08/01/2022 – 04/01/2023.

   

  Good Evening Kurt and Kevin (or St. Charles County Elections. Records Officer / Custodian of Records), all others CCed,

   

  Please reply promptly to the following public records request, which is being made in accordance with the Missouri Sunshine 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 plan on following up again in a week, I haven’t heard back before then.

   

  I reviewed your Records Requests Forms at these URLs:
  https://www.sccmo.org/DocumentCenter/View/402/Records-Request-Form-PDF?bidId=
  https://www.sccmo.org/FormCenter/County-Registrar-Office-13/Record-Request-Form-58

   

  There isn’t enough space on either form for me to write my request, and not all of the fields are applicable to my request. Therefore, I’m submitting my request to you directly via email:

   

  Please provide all e-mails and SMS text messages sent From the St. Charles County Elections Director or Staff, during the time period of 08/01/2022 through 04/01/2023. Specifically – I’m only requesting correspondence related to the 2022 Missouri House District 105 election and subsequent recount request in Missouri House District 105.

   

  ** I’m simply requesting an electronic copy of an electronic record, if one exists. I am NOT asking for the opportunity 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 the electronic medium / electronic 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 any public records laws, statutes, etc. **
  ——————

   

  ** Please note that by submitting this request, I’m NOT agreeing to pay any potential fees or associated costs related to my request. If it isn’t 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 respond.

   

  I do not believe I’m 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.

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  Status: Sent to Government
• September 20, 2023 6:42 pm

  7 months ago

  Submitted to Sunshine Request

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  Status: Pending