Bail Enforcement Complaint Forms-SCOPs
It is a clone of this request.
| Submitted | July 16, 2015 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Carly Sitrin
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to Virginia Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
I request copies of all forms used to register complaints against individuals, businesses, or training schools about possible violations of the applicable Code of Virginia or Regulations associated with the following programs: Private Security Services; Bail Bondsman; Bail Enforcement Agents; Special Conservator of the Peace submitted between the time of this filing and the year 2000. In the event these records/dates are not available for the entire time period covering this request, I request you supply the above information for the period covering the present back to as long as such records/information are available.
Given that this FOIA is submitted in my capacity as a journalist, I request that I be categorized as a media requester for the purpose of fees.
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 fees cannot be waived, 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,
Carly Sitrin
From: Dion, Shannon (DCJS)
Hi Carly,
I’ve received your FOIA request but need to ask some clarifying questions.
Are you seeking only the forms the agency has used to receive complaints since 2000 to present?
Or are you seeking copies of all complaint forms submitted to the agency since 2000 to present? If so, as you noted, many of the forms are likely destroyed according to record retention policies or archived at the state library.
Unfortunately we cannot waive the fees for complying with your request but will provide you with an estimate once you clarify our questions. Fees will include accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for the requested records, whether housed at the agency or the state library. Given the large time frame you are requesting records for and the multiple program categories you want, this will very likely be a large endeavor for the agency to undertake both time wise and the number of staff involved. If you can narrow your request it will likely reduce your cost to obtain records.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Shannon
Shannon Dion
Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs
Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services
1100 Bank Street, Richmond, VA 23219
Phone: 804.225.4300 FAX: 804.786.0410
www.dcjs.virginia.gov<../../../ijr24809/Documents/www.dcjs.virginia.gov>
For up to date information, subscribe to DCJS Updates: www.dcjs.virginia.gov/subscribe<http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/subscribe>
Visit us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/vadcjs<https://www.facebook.com/vadcjs> and Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/va_dcjs<http://www.flickr.com/photos/va_dcjs/>
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
The contents of this email message and any attachments are intended solely for the addressee(s) and may contain confidential and/or privileged information and may be legally protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message or their agent, or if this message has been addressed to you in error, please immediately alert the sender by reply email and then delete this message and any attachments. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, copying, or storage of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited.
Follow the DCJS Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DCJS_VCSS
From: Carly Sitrin
Shannon,
Thank you so much for your timely response. In light of the circumstances, I would like to amend my request. I would like to rescind my request for the records since 2000 and alter that date to include all complaint forms (including but not limited to the forms the agency has used to receive complaints) submitted to the agency since the year 2010 to the present. Are any of the relevant forms filed electronically? If so, I would request copies of those first since they should require limited time and effort to send. If possible, I would love to speak with someone about my request. Is there a specific individual or phone number I could contact? Thank you again for your assistance.
Best,
Carly Sitrin
From: Dion, Shannon (DCJS)
I think Ms. Freiberger is in the best position to talk to you as she knows how the forms were submitted to the agency and where they are located after processing. I’m not sure she is in the office today but her number is 804-786-7534.
Can I assume from your email that you still want an estimate of the cost to proceed with the new request before we start working on it? We can also estimate the time it will take us to fulfill the request and whether we need to invoke the additional 7 days, or more.
Thanks so much,
Shannon
Shannon Dion
Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs
Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services
1100 Bank Street, Richmond, VA 23219
Phone: 804.225.4300 FAX: 804.786.0410
www.dcjs.virginia.gov<../../../ijr24809/Documents/www.dcjs.virginia.gov>
For up to date information, subscribe to DCJS Updates: www.dcjs.virginia.gov/subscribe<http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/subscribe>
Visit us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/vadcjs<https://www.facebook.com/vadcjs> and Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/va_dcjs<http://www.flickr.com/photos/va_dcjs/>
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
The contents of this email message and any attachments are intended solely for the addressee(s) and may contain confidential and/or privileged information and may be legally protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message or their agent, or if this message has been addressed to you in error, please immediately alert the sender by reply email and then delete this message and any attachments. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, copying, or storage of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited.
Follow the DCJS Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DCJS_VCSS
From: Carly Sitrin
Yes please, an estimate of cost and time would be very helpful as I am making my request in my capacity as a member of the news media and not for commercial purposes. I will contact Ms. Freiberger and hopefully further clarify the documents I need. Thank you again!
Best,
Carly Sitrin
Muckrock News
(908) 458-2734
From: Dion, Shannon (DCJS)
Hi Ms. Sitrin,
We estimate there are approximately 12,000 complaints from 2010 to present that will need to be pulled from current and archived files and then reviewed for any pertinent redactions allowed under FOIA.
We’ve never responded to a request this size but estimate it will take at least 80-120 hours of staff time (at $32.33/hour = $2,586.40 to $3,879.60), plus the cost and time we must pay the state library to identify and send files to us (cost unknown).
Please call me at the number below to discuss your request and perhaps more efficient and cheaper ways we can provide you with helpful information. I am due to have a baby in the next two weeks so please call as soon as possible.
Shannon
Shannon Dion
Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs
Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services
1100 Bank Street, Richmond, VA 23219
Phone: 804.225.4300 FAX: 804.786.0410
www.dcjs.virginia.gov<../../../ijr24809/Documents/www.dcjs.virginia.gov>
For up to date information, subscribe to DCJS Updates: www.dcjs.virginia.gov/subscribe<http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/subscribe>
Visit us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/vadcjs<https://www.facebook.com/vadcjs> and Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/va_dcjs<http://www.flickr.com/photos/va_dcjs/>
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
The contents of this email message and any attachments are intended solely for the addressee(s) and may contain confidential and/or privileged information and may be legally protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message or their agent, or if this message has been addressed to you in error, please immediately alert the sender by reply email and then delete this message and any attachments. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, copying, or storage of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited.
Follow the DCJS Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DCJS_VCSS
From: Dion, Shannon (DCJS)
Hi Carly,
It was nice chatting with you this afternoon. As we discussed, our database can extract specific complaints on SCOPS, bail bondsmen and bail enforcement agents beginning in 2013 and continuing through the present.
We will determine the # of complaints against these professionals from 2013 to present, as well as the # of founded complaints during this time frame. We will also estimate how much it will cost for us to retrieve and redact both sets of complaints so you can determine how you’d like us to proceed.
Thanks so much,
Shannon
Shannon Dion
Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs
Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services
1100 Bank Street, Richmond, VA 23219
Phone: 804.225.4300 FAX: 804.786.0410
www.dcjs.virginia.gov<../../../ijr24809/Documents/www.dcjs.virginia.gov>
For up to date information, subscribe to DCJS Updates: www.dcjs.virginia.gov/subscribe<http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/subscribe>
Visit us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/vadcjs<https://www.facebook.com/vadcjs> and Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/va_dcjs<http://www.flickr.com/photos/va_dcjs/>
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
The contents of this email message and any attachments are intended solely for the addressee(s) and may contain confidential and/or privileged information and may be legally protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message or their agent, or if this message has been addressed to you in error, please immediately alert the sender by reply email and then delete this message and any attachments. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, copying, or storage of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited.
Follow the DCJS Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DCJS_VCSS
From: Dion, Shannon (DCJS)
Hi Ms. Sitrin,
If you recall, we spoke on July 21st and you narrowed your request to complaints about SCOPs, bail bondsmen and bail enforcement agents. We informed you that our system only started separating the complaints by profession in 2013, and you agreed to narrow the request to complaints received by DCJS from 2013 to present.
We also discussed letting you know how many of those complaints received from 2013 to present were founded or unfounded to help you better decide what records you want.
We have found approximately 39 founded cases (for all 3 professions) and 66 unfounded cases (for all 3 professions), for an approximate total of 105 complaints received for both founded and unfounded. However, not all the files have been updated in our database and therefore there are cases (not included in the 105 count) that do not indicate a clear “founded” or “unfounded status;” as such we will need to manually retrieve these files to determine their status, which may affect the final numbers. If any of these cases are still open and under investigation, they will be withheld pursuant to FOIA laws. I have not included any active cases currently under investigation as they are subject to withholding under FOIA pursuant to 2.2-3705.3(10).
As previously mentioned, the majority of these records are archived in the state library in separate boxes (which cost us money to retrieve). Therefore, we estimate the following costs to retrieve, access and redact records:
105 cases = minimum of 40 hours staff time x $32.33/hour = $1,293 plus copying costs ($0.10/page) plus retrieval from state library costs
39 founded cases = minimum of 15 hours of staff time x $32.33 = $485 plus copying costs ($0.10/page) plus retrieval from state library costs
66 unfounded cases = minimum of 25 hours of staff time x $32.33 = $808 plus copying costs ($0.10/page) plus retrieval from state library costs
Please let us know how you would like us to proceed. If you’re curious about the breakdown by profession (caveat that some records need updating for possible inclusion):
BEA
* 2 Founded
* 1 Unfounded
TOTAL = 3
(there are approximately 2 files which we cannot determine the status of based on the database and will need to be pulled for evaluation – please tell us if you want to include these)
BB
* 36 Founded
* 60 Unfounded
TOTAL = 96
(there are approximately 47 files which we cannot determine the status of based on the database and will need to be pulled for evaluation – please tell us if you want to include these)
SCOP
* 1 Founded
* 5 Unfounded
TOTAL = 6
(there are approximately 5 files which we cannot determine the status of based on the database and will need to be pulled for evaluation – please tell us if you want to include these)
Finally, I am departing on maternity leave at the end of the week so please direct future correspondence with the parties cc’d on this email. They will be able to answer additional questions you may have and will be responsible for gathering the documents you decide upon. Thanks so much and good luck with the article. It sounds interesting.
Shannon
Shannon Dion
Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs
Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services
1100 Bank Street, Richmond, VA 23219
Phone: 804.225.4300 FAX: 804.786.0410
www.dcjs.virginia.gov<../../../ijr24809/Documents/www.dcjs.virginia.gov>
For up to date information, subscribe to DCJS Updates: www.dcjs.virginia.gov/subscribe<http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/subscribe>
Visit us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/vadcjs<https://www.facebook.com/vadcjs> and Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/va_dcjs<http://www.flickr.com/photos/va_dcjs/>
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
The contents of this email message and any attachments are intended solely for the addressee(s) and may contain confidential and/or privileged information and may be legally protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message or their agent, or if this message has been addressed to you in error, please immediately alert the sender by reply email and then delete this message and any attachments. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, copying, or storage of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited.
Follow the DCJS Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DCJS_VCSS
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From: Carly Sitrin
Hi Shannon,
Thank you so much for your assistance! This breakdown is incredibly helpful. If you or anyone cc'ed on this email wouldn't mind, I would love to see an approximate fee estimate (if possible, including rough estimates for retrieval and copying fees) for just the records (founded, unfounded, and indeterminate) for the cases involving the BEAs and SCOPs. Excluding the BB cases. Hopefully this will cut down on unnecessary search and effort on all parts! Thank you again for your attention to this matter and best of luck to you on your maternity leave!
Best,
Carly Sitrin
MuckRock News
908-458-2734
From: Carly Sitrin
Hi Laureen,
Thank you for leaving me that followup voicemail! If possible, I would love to get a fee estimate, in writing, (including retrieval and copying fees) for the records (founded, unfounded, and indeterminate) for the cases involving the BEAs and SCOPs alone (16 cases), not including the bail bondsmen cases (96 cases).
Best,
Carly Sitrin
MuckRock News
908-458-2734
From: Hyman, Laureen (DCJS)
As Shannon Dion indicated to you previously, not all the files have been updated in our database and therefore there are cases that do not indicate a clear “founded” or “unfounded status;” as such we will need to manually retrieve these files to determine their status, which may affect the final numbers. If any of these cases are still open and under investigation, they will be withheld pursuant to FOIA laws. Active cases currently under investigation have not been included as they are subject to withholding under FOIA pursuant to 2.2-3705.3(10).
The cost estimate I left you on your voice mail for this request is $1,247.96. This is just an estimate. The breakdown is as follows:
BEA Total cases: 5 (two additional files were discovered that should be included)
SCOP Total cases: 13 (seven additional files were discovered that should be included)
Overall Total Case Files: 18
Rate x Estimated Time = Charge
Staff Member #1 $32.33/hour X 35 Hours = $1131.55
Staff Member #2 $30.41/hour X 1 Hour = $30.41
Sub-Total Charge: = $1161.96
Duplication Fee
Rate x Pages = Charge
Copies $0.10/per page 360 = $36.00
Sub-Total Charge: = $36.00
Retrieval Cost from State Library $50.00
Total Charge: = $1247.96
Please let me know if you would like us to proceed with this request.
Laureen Hyman
Assistant to the Director
Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services
1100 Bank Street, Richmond, VA 23219
(804) 786-8718 Fax: (804) 786-0588
www.dcjs.virginia.gov<../../../ijr24809/Documents/www.dcjs.virginia.gov>
For up to date information, subscribe to DCJS Updates: www.dcjs.virginia.gov/subscribe<http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/subscribe>
Visit us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/vadcjs<https://www.facebook.com/vadcjs> and Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/va_dcjs<http://www.flickr.com/photos/va_dcjs/>
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
The contents of this email message and any attachments are intended solely for the addressee(s) and may contain confidential and/or privileged information and may be legally protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message or their agent, or if this message has been addressed to you in error, please immediately alert the sender by reply email and then delete this message and any attachments. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, copying, or storage of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited.
From: Hyman, Laureen (DCJS)
Carly – Kim Freiberger and I just tried to call you, would you mind calling Kim back directly? She knows more about this area of the agency. Her phone number is (804) 786-7534. Thanks!
Laureen Hyman
Assistant to the Director
Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services
1100 Bank Street, Richmond, VA 23219
(804) 786-8718 Fax: (804) 786-0588
www.dcjs.virginia.gov<../../../ijr24809/Documents/www.dcjs.virginia.gov>
For up to date information, subscribe to DCJS Updates: www.dcjs.virginia.gov/subscribe<http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/subscribe>
Visit us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/vadcjs<https://www.facebook.com/vadcjs> and Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/va_dcjs<http://www.flickr.com/photos/va_dcjs/>
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
The contents of this email message and any attachments are intended solely for the addressee(s) and may contain confidential and/or privileged information and may be legally protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message or their agent, or if this message has been addressed to you in error, please immediately alert the sender by reply email and then delete this message and any attachments. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, copying, or storage of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited.
From: Hyman, Laureen (DCJS)
I understand from Kim Freiberger that you are now looking at narrowing down your request to only FOUNDED case files for the BEA and SCOP program.
The breakdown for this modified request is as follows:
BEA Case Files: 3 Founded
SCOP Case Files: 2 Founded
Overall Total Case Files: 5
Rate x Estimated Time = Charge
Staff Member #1 $32.33/hour X 8 Hours = $258.64
Staff Member #2 $30.41/hour X 1 Hour = $30.41
Sub-Total Charge: = $289.05
Duplication Fee
Rate x Pages = Charge
Copies $0.10/per page 150 = $15.00
Sub-Total Charge: = $15.00
Retrieval Cost from State Library $40.00
Total Charge: = $344.05
Please let me know if you would like us to proceed with this request.
Laureen Hyman
Assistant to the Director
Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services
1100 Bank Street, Richmond, VA 23219
(804) 786-8718 Fax: (804) 786-0588
www.dcjs.virginia.gov<../../../ijr24809/Documents/www.dcjs.virginia.gov>
For up to date information, subscribe to DCJS Updates: www.dcjs.virginia.gov/subscribe<http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/subscribe>
Visit us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/vadcjs<https://www.facebook.com/vadcjs> and Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/va_dcjs<http://www.flickr.com/photos/va_dcjs/>
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
The contents of this email message and any attachments are intended solely for the addressee(s) and may contain confidential and/or privileged information and may be legally protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message or their agent, or if this message has been addressed to you in error, please immediately alert the sender by reply email and then delete this message and any attachments. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, copying, or storage of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited.