Communication Services Contract
It is a clone of this request.
| Submitted | July 17, 2018 |
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Communications
From: Peter Olsen-Phillips
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Maryland Public Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
Contracts and invoices related to the use of communication services at any and all county correctional or detention facility locations under the jurisdiction of this agency. This may encompass telecommunication, kiosk, and mobile tablet services.
Please provide the following relevant materials.
• Any and all open or active Requests for Proposal or similar solicitations regarding the provision, installation, maintenance, or use of communication services. If available or applicable, please also provide equivalent materials for video conferencing equipment and other electronic communication and telecommunication services.
• Any and all active contracts regarding the provision, installation, maintenance, financial requirements, associated commissions, or use of communication 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.
• Any and all financial reports, commission reports, revenue reports, and invoices related to the provision, installation, maintenance, or use of communication 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.
Please provide all current contract materials and invoices for the period January 1, 2015 through the date this request is processed.
If this office or agency does not hold arrestees or inmates under its jurisdiction, provision of the entity to whom such individuals are transferred would be greatly appreciated.
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 calendar days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Peter Olsen-Phillips
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Maryland Public Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 17, 2018. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Howard County Department Of Corrections
[ltrhd7_30FINALcoadminMSM.jpg]
August 22, 2018
MuckRock News
Attn: Peter Olsen-Phillips
DEPT MR 58415
411A Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA 02144
requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>
Dear Mr. Olsen-Phillips:
This letter is to confirm receipt of your August 15, 2018 letter to Howard County Government's Department of Corrections, requesting information in accordance with the Maryland Public Information Act, 4-101 et seq. of the General Provisions Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland (the "PIA"), which this office received on August 21, 2018.
Specifically, you have asked for "... the following records:
"Contracts and invoices related to the use of communication services at any and all county correctional or detention facility locations under the jurisdiction of this agency. This may encompass telecommunication, kiosk, and mobile tablet services.
"Please provide the following relevant materials.
* "Any and all open or active Requests for Proposal or similar solicitations regarding the provision, installation, maintenance, or use of communication services. If available or applicable, please also provide equivalent materials for video conferencing equipment and other electronic communication and telecommunication services.
* "Any and all active contracts regarding the provision, installation, maintenance, financial requirements, associated commissions, or use of communication 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.
* "Any and all financial reports, commission reports, revenue reports, and invoices related to the provision, installation, maintenance, or use of communication 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.
"Please provide all current contract materials and invoices for the period January 1, 2015 through the date this request is processed."
Upon receipt of your request, the County has up to 10 working days to respond, unless we notify you in writing or by email within that time period that additional time is required for us to respond. Under the PIA, Howard County has the right to charge for search time exceeding two hours as the first two are free; this fee is based on the hourly salary of the individual(s) carrying out the search. In addition, while Howard County has the right to charge a copying fee of $0.25 per page for a black and white paper copy, as mentioned on page 10 of Howard County Council Resolution No. 61-2018<https://apps.howardcountymd.gov/olis/LegislationDetail.aspx?LegislationID=3054>, if electronic copies of the responsive records exist, they are free of charge. However, per page 10 of the Council Resolution, when an electronic response, or portion therefore, is too large to send electronically, the Public Information Office shall convert the response, or portion thereof, to paper, CD, DVD or flash drive, as the requestor specifies. The cost of a CD/DVD is $10 per disk and a flash drive is $20 per drive.
For more information on the PIA, please visit Maryland's Office of the Attorney General website at http://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/Pages/OpenGov/pia.aspx.
Sincerely,
Alexandra
Alexandra Bresani
Office of Public Information
Howard County Government
410-313-2023 (phone)
410-313-3299 (fax)
www.howardcountymd.gov<http://www.howardcountymd.gov>
www.facebook.com/HoCoGov<http://www.facebook.com/HoCoGov>
From: Howard County Department Of Corrections
Dear Mr. Olsen-Phillips,
The County's Department of Corrections has a question regarding bullet number three. Do you simply seek invoices? Or do you also seek the statements that accompany each monthly invoice that outlines every single charge for that month? Please note, these statements are usually between 200 to 250 pages long and may need to be redacted of confidential information. Additionally, please keep in mind, as I mentioned in my August 22, 2018 letter, per page 10 of Howard County Council Resolution No. 61-2018<https://apps.howardcountymd.gov/olis/LegislationDetail.aspx?LegislationID=3054>, when an electronic response, or portion therefore, is too large to send electronically, the Public Information Office shall convert the response, or portion thereof, to paper, CD, DVD or flash drive, as the requestor specifies. The cost of a CD/DVD is $10 per disk and a flash drive is $20 per drive.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Alexandra
Alexandra Bresani
Office of Public Information
Howard County Government
410-313-2023 (phone)
410-313-3299 (fax)
www.howardcountymd.gov<http://www.howardcountymd.gov>
www.facebook.com/HoCoGov<http://www.facebook.com/HoCoGov>
From: Howard County Department Of Corrections
[ltrhd7_30FINALcoadminMSM.jpg]
September 5, 2018
MuckRock News
Attn: Peter Olsen-Phillips
DEPT MR 58415
411A Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA 02144
requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>
Dear Mr. Olsen-Phillips:
The following is in response to your August 15, 2018 letter to Howard County Government's Department of Corrections, requesting information in accordance with the Maryland Public Information Act, 4-101 et seq. of the General Provisions Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland (the "PIA"), which this office received on August 21, 2018.
Specifically, you have asked for "... the following records:
"Contracts and invoices related to the use of communication services at any and all county correctional or detention facility locations under the jurisdiction of this agency. This may encompass telecommunication, kiosk, and mobile tablet services.
"Please provide the following relevant materials.
· "Any and all open or active Requests for Proposal or similar solicitations regarding the provision, installation, maintenance, or use of communication services. If available or applicable, please also provide equivalent materials for video conferencing equipment and other electronic communication and telecommunication services.
· "Any and all active contracts regarding the provision, installation, maintenance, financial requirements, associated commissions, or use of communication 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.
· "Any and all financial reports, commission reports, revenue reports, and invoices related to the provision, installation, maintenance, or use of communication 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.
"Please provide all current contract materials and invoices for the period January 1, 2015 through the date this request is processed."
Your request for records is granted in part and denied in part. The County's Office of Purchasing has one record (443 pages in total length) responsive to your request. The PIA exempts from disclosure those records provided by or obtained from any person or governmental unit that are trade secrets or confidential commercial or financial information, specifically resumes of key personnel have been redacted. See PIA § 4-335. The records provided have been redacted of information that falls within this exemption.
In addition, the County's Department of Corrections has 135 records responsive to your request.
Due to the number and size of the files, I am providing you with a Dropbox link, https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5xrdfkziwkyqrml/AABMZ_QiujivXXI1ZZmVwVMka?dl=0, so that you may access them.
While Howard County has the right to charge a copying fee of $0.25 per page for a black and white paper copy, as mentioned on page 10 of Howard County Council Resolution No. 61-2018<https://apps.howardcountymd.gov/olis/LegislationDetail.aspx?LegislationID=3054>, electronic copies of the records requested exist and are therefore free of charge. In addition, Howard County has the right under the Public Information Act to charge you for search time in excess of two hours; however, no more than two hours was expended on your request per Department.
Pursuant to MPIA § 4-362, you are entitled to seek judicial review of this decision by filing a complaint in the Circuit Court for Howard County or the Circuit Court in Maryland in the County where you reside or maintain a principal place of business. You may also refer any concerns about this decision to the Public Access Ombudsman pursuant to MPIA § 4-1B-01 et seq.
Sincerely,
Alexandra
Alexandra Bresani
Office of Public Information
Howard County Government
410-313-2023 (phone)
410-313-3299 (fax)
www.howardcountymd.gov<http://www.howardcountymd.gov>
www.facebook.com/HoCoGov<http://www.facebook.com/HoCoGov>
