Communication Services Contracts - North Carolina - May 2019 (Currituck County Sheriff's Office)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the North Carolina Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:

Contracts and invoices related to the use of communication services at any and all correctional or detention facility locations under the jurisdiction of this agency. This may encompass money transfer, commissary transactions, telecommunication, email, kiosk, video visitation, and mobile tablet services.

Please provide the following relevant materials.

1. Procurement: Any and all open or active Requests for Proposal or similar solicitations regarding the provision, installation, maintenance, or use of communication services (including those related to money transfer, telecommunication, email, kiosk, video visitation, and mobile tablet services). If available or applicable, please provide equivalent materials for video conferencing equipment and other electronic communication and telecommunication services.

2: Contracts and agreements: Any and all active contracts regarding the provision, installation, maintenance, financial requirements, associated commissions, or use of communication services (including money transfer, telecommunication, email, kiosk, video visitation, and mobile tablet services). Please include all associated supplemental materials, including any and all attachments, amendments, and exhibits. Please provide any other materials regarding the terms of service, including the term and expiration date of the current contract, as well as any optional contract extensions. Please include the name of the current telecommunication provider, as well as the services currently being provided pursuant to the agreement. Relevant companies include, but are not limited to, CenturyLink, City Tele Coin, ICSolutions, JPay, and Securus Technologies.

3: Finance records: Any and all financial reports, commission reports, revenue reports, and invoices related to the provision, installation, maintenance, or use of communication services (including money transfer, telecommunication, email, kiosk, video visitation, and mobile tablet services). Please include all usage and fee reports, providing as much segregable data as possible, including, but not limited to, the rate at which the funds were generated, the revenue generated for each service, the timeframe during which the funds were generated, the nature of the communication's payment (collect, prepaid, inmate account), etc. If available, please also provide equivalent materials for video conferencing equipment and other electronic communication and telecommunication services.

4: Policies: Any and all policies related to the use of telecommunication services or any other services provided by companies relevant to parts 1, 2, and/or 3 of this request. Please include all policies regarding the appropriate manner in which inmates may use these services, including those related to the transfer of funds for costs related to these services and restrictions on or requirements for use of these services. If any responsive policies have gone into effect since January 1, 2016, please provide notes and communications regarding this policy change or adjustment.

Please provide all responsive materials and invoices for the period January 1, 2015 through the date this request is processed.

I am happy to discuss the scope of this request. If this is necessary, please feel free to contact me at this email address for a time to speak on the phone.

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 10 business days.

Sincerely,

Beryl Lipton

Hello Mr. Castelow,

Thank you so much for your message. You, indeed, used the best email address for this request. I understand that your office is very small and may not have some of the materials for which I asked; I recently received a similar explanation from Chowan County (https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2019/jun/06/prison-phones-north-carolina-update/), which I believe is in nearly the same situation. Please let me know if you have any questions for me, and I'll look forward to hearing from your office again.

Thanks, again, for your time and help.

Have a great weekend,
Beryl