COVID vaccine distribution and prioritization 2020 (Nebraska Department Of Health And Human Services)

Good Morning:

Please be advised that your request was sent on December 15, 2020, and not December 14, 2020. Under Nebraska Public Records Law, the agency has four (4) business days to respond to a request. The date of receipt and any Saturday, Sunday, or day in which the offices of the agency are not open are not included in the calculation. Your request is due for a response today.

Thank you,

Erik Fern | Attorney III
LEGAL SERVICES
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services
OFFICE: 402-471-8298
DHHS.ne.gov<http://dhhs.ne.gov/Pages/default.aspx> | Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/NEDHHS/> | Twitter<https://twitter.com/NEDHHS> | LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/company/nebraska-department-of-health-and-human-services>

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Good Morning,

Thank you for your public records request dated December 14, 2020. Due to the workload demands of agency personnel, the agency will be unable to provide a time and cost estimate, if necessary, or a response to your request for four weeks from today. Our office will contact you directly, should the information come available sooner than January 15, 2021.

Should you desire to modify or prioritize items within your request, please contact our office directly.

Thank-you!
Brianna Cowell | Legal - Administrative Assistant II
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services
OFFICE: 402-471-4382
DHHS.ne.gov<http://dhhs.ne.gov/Pages/default.aspx> | Facebook<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FNEDHHS%2F&data=02%7C01%7CBrianna.Cowell%40nebraska.gov%7Cd2554d8d70f043c9df3808d80d7d571a%7C043207dfe6894bf6902001038f11f0b1%7C0%7C0%7C637274179260517339&sdata=sMYkBwZJHOHWh9co5vs0ccJL%2FbYP2fX196NtbEhUudI%3D&reserved=0> | Twitter<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FNEDHHS&data=02%7C01%7CBrianna.Cowell%40nebraska.gov%7Cd2554d8d70f043c9df3808d80d7d571a%7C043207dfe6894bf6902001038f11f0b1%7C0%7C0%7C637274179260522318&sdata=F7kDFEzsMI9v%2FpqTIIm7Uu00EvPR04kGofQvIIl%2FgtU%3D&reserved=0> | LinkedIn<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fcompany%2Fnebraska-department-of-health-and-human-services&data=02%7C01%7CBrianna.Cowell%40nebraska.gov%7Cd2554d8d70f043c9df3808d80d7d571a%7C043207dfe6894bf6902001038f11f0b1%7C0%7C0%7C637274179260522318&sdata=9vxnHGZzjo4lvWqy6I279OBD%2F%2Fsj%2BKm5DRQV8NjCEzA%3D&reserved=0>

Good Afternoon:

Thank you for your public records request dated December 21, 2020 seeking public records in relation to Covid-19 vaccine distribution and prioritization. Below is the cost estimate prepared in relation to your request. The first four hours of non-attorney-privilege-review staff time would be at no charge.

Please know that you have ten business days to review the estimated cost, and request the agency fulfill the request, negotiate with the agency to narrow or simplify your request, or withdraw your request. If you do not respond within ten business days, the agency shall not proceed to fulfill your request.

The agency requires payment of a 10% deposit of the expected cost prior to moving forward with responding to the request. Please, only send the amount of the deposit requested as time estimates are just estimates. We will send you the final time and billing amount once it is completed. With the State billing system it is difficult to refund if there is an overpayment because the time ends up being less.

Staff Time
Employee Job Title
Hours
Description of Work Unit
Total Cost
Attorney III
2
Attorney administrative migration of data (non-privilege review)
$33.824 per hour - NO CHARGE
Attorney III
8
Responsiveness review of records, physical redaction of records, and preparing final response (non-privilege review)
$33.824 per hour - (Two hours NO CHARGE) $202.94
Senior IT Support Analyst
2
OCIO email retrieval (actual cost billed to agency)
$80.00 per hour - $160.00
Administrative Assistant II
4
Preliminary review of records and organization, final preparation of records (non-privilege review)
$18.32 per hour - $73.28

COPY CHARGES
0 copies 25 cents per page
$0.00

Total Cost:
$436.22*

* Please be advised that this cost is an estimate. The final cost may be more, or less, depending on the actual time and cost expended by the agency in responding to your public records request.

If you intend to proceed with the foregoing, please send a check in the amount of $43.62 payable to "Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services."

All payments must be sent to Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Attn: Erik Fern, P.O. Box 95026, Lincoln, NE 68509.

Please be advised that the agency has received numerous extensive public records requests related to COVID-19. It is important to note the individuals working on your public records request are the same individuals responsible for responding to the State's public health emergency. This is a difficult time for many, and the agency is doing its best to balance its interest in continued public health and safety and its duty to timely respond to all public records requests; however, extensive public records requests will require more time to provide a response. The agency prioritizes requests based on the date of receipt. Your request generated 3,728 potentially relevant emails. Because each email (and any attachment) must be reviewed to determine if it is a responsive record, the agency will require several months to provide a final response to your request. After all responsive records are identified, those records must be reviewed by the program to ensure no improper information is released.

Given the volume of your request and the current workloads of our staff, the agency expects to be able to fulfill or provide an answer to your request by May 1, 2021. Based on the expected timeline, please let me know if the agency's expected response remains timely based upon your needs and if your request should be fulfilled. If the information is available prior to the estimated date, it will be promptly sent to you upon payment of the full balance of the costs.

Should you desire to modify or prioritize your request, please contact our office.

Thank you,

Erik Fern | Attorney III
LEGAL SERVICES
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services
OFFICE: 402-471-8298
DHHS.ne.gov<http://dhhs.ne.gov/Pages/default.aspx> | Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/NEDHHS/> | Twitter<https://twitter.com/NEDHHS> | LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/company/nebraska-department-of-health-and-human-services>

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Good Morning: