Mask Mandates (Office of the Governor of Nevada)
| Multi Request | Mask Mandates |
| Submitted | Aug. 25, 2021 |
| Est. Completion | Oct. 15, 2021 |
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Communications
From: Emma North-Best
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Nevada Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
Emails, memos, letters, documents and other records discussing or mentioning implemented or proposed mask mandate policies, as well as discussions regarding their expiration or termination between January 1, 2020 and the present.
I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000 readers in outlets such as Gizmodo, MuckRock, Motherboard, Property of the People, Unicorn Riot, and The Outline, among others. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through non-profits such as the library Internet Archive and the journalist non-profit MuckRock, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance.
As my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available, I request that fees be waived.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Emma North-Best
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Nevada Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 25, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Office of the Governor of Nevada
Dear Ms. North-Best,
The Governor's Office is in receipt of your request for public records dated August 25, 2021. This email is a formal acknowledgment of those requests as required by the Nevada Public Records Act.
You requested records discussing or mentioning proposed or implemented mask mandates or discussing the termination or expiration of such mandates, from January 1, 2020 to the present.
We are in the process of searching for and collecting responsive records. At this time, I do not know the number of responsive records that will require review, but I estimate that the number will be substantial and will therefore require significant time to review. The best estimate I can provide at this time for when the records could be produced is October 15, 2021.
Thank you,
Kevin
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~WRD0000
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Nevada Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 25, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Office of the Governor of Nevada
Dear Ms. North-Best,
Please see the response dated September 1, 2021, in this email chain below. The best estimate at this time of when a response will be available is October 15, 2021.
Best,
Kevin
From: Office of the Governor of Nevada
Dear Ms. North-Best,
This message is to provide an update and request clarification or narrowing of your request. You have requested: "Emails, memos, letters, documents and other records discussing or mentioning implemented or proposed mask mandate policies, as well as discussions regarding their expiration or termination between January 1, 2020 and the present."
The documents will not be available on October 15, 2021 because a preliminary search shows that there are numerous potentially responsive documents, each of which will require individual review. At this time, my best estimate is that this process will take six to eight weeks.
Furthermore, internal communications that discuss proposed or draft policies related to masks (or discussions related to the termination or expiration thereof) are confidential under the deliberative process privilege. See DR Partners v. Bd. of Cty. Comm'rs of Clark Cty., 116 Nev. 616, 622, 6 P.3d 465, 469 (2000) ("The deliberative process or 'executive' privilege is one of the traditional mechanisms that provide protection to the deliberative and decision-making processes of the executive branch of government."). Accordingly, such records cannot be released.
If you are able to narrow your request to a shorter time frame, particular parties, or to a specific mask policy or policies, that could reduce the time necessary for searching and reviewing the records. Please let me know if you would like to narrow your request, and if so, let me know the parameters.
Best,
Kevin
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm following up on the following Nevada Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 25, 2021. You had previously indicated that it would be completed on Oct. 15, 2021. I wanted to check on the status of my request, and to see if there was a new estimated completion date.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Office of the Governor of Nevada
Please see the response dated October 8, below, and let us know if you would like to clarify or narrow your request.
Best,
Kevin
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~WRD0000