Hi all, do any of your departments release a monthly FOIA report to you board members/city council members? If not, could you respond that you don’t? If you do, could you weigh in on the below issue we are having?
Each month we run a report of the previous month’s FOIA requests. This report is provided as part of a monthly packet to our Board of Trustees and also published on our Township website (making its info searchable to the public). Included in this report are the full names of all requestors that submitted FOIA requests as well as any company they listed they are requesting on behalf of. Additional information includes the type of record requested, date submitted and any fees we charged. This is not released under a FOIA request that someone is making, it is a monthly statistical report voluntarily provided to our board members for reviewing/publishing. We discussed removing names due to privacy concerns. Our Township has been doing this for so long that it had never crossed their minds that this could be a privacy concern and now that we are tying to initiate a change there is pushback from board members. We are currently in the process of gathering opinions and practices. I am concerned personally for any victims that are filing reports (DV, harassment, CSC, etc.) and requesting copies under FOIA (for PPO, custody, court, etc.) and now that information is out there for unwanted individuals (suspects, estranged family, etc.) to potentially retaliate against them. I would prefer to only release a report that covers statistically what the FOIAs were that month: volume and any fees charged/collected.
If anyone is willing to email me about their department’s policy, we would GREATLY appreciate it! Or please feel free to reply below. THANK YOU!
Sarah Drielts
sdrielts@plymouthtwppd.org
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