Shelby Co. (ECWd) –
Timelines are important, as are responses to Freedom of Information Act requests. In most states, a response by a government official is considered to be an authentic record, which can be in paper form, audio, video, or electronic, such as an email address. While we understand a select group of propagandists in Shelby County try to imply we need to accept the judge’s ruling and not question it because we are not attorneys, we understand facts don’t get in the way of their agenda.
April 25, 2024, at 11:29:24 AM, I sent a FOIA request asking for the official email of the dive commander. The response, the very email the lawyer representing the county claimed does not exist, [email protected]
September 4, 2024, the following FOIA request was submitted to the Shelby County Clerk.
“I’m am requesting all email addresses used for Shelby County Department Heads, and elected officials to include Rescue/Dive Team. Thank you, Cody Brand”. (emphasis added)
Sep 4, 2024, at 2:49 PM, the County Clerk responded with the following.
- Shelby County EMA/Zoning – Scott McKee – [email protected] or [email protected]
- Steve Melega – Health Admin – [email protected]
- Michael Tappendorf – County Engineer – [email protected]
- Sheriff McReynolds – [email protected]
- Debbie Dunaway – Sup of Assessments – [email protected]
- Heather Wade – Probation – [email protected]
- Brad Rau – Public Defender – [email protected]
- Erica Firnhaber – Treasurer – [email protected]
- Kari Kingston – Circuit Clerk – [email protected]
- Ruth Woolery – SA – [email protected]
- Brad Phegley – Coroner – [email protected]
- Angela Miller – Animal Control – [email protected]
- Rescue – Shelby Rescue – Jordan Camic [email protected]
- Dive Commander – Austin Pritchard [email protected] (color and emphasis added)
- Jessica Fox – County Clerk/Recorder – [email protected]
“Emails responsive to your FOIA request attached.”
The official responses indicate that the private email account Austin Prichard was using was, in fact, an official email address.
Nov 7 at 11:11 PM, the following FOIA request was sent by Cody Brands.
To: <[email protected]>, “Austin Pritchard” <[email protected]> <[email protected]>
“Good evening. I am requesting all run reports(call reports or dispatch reports) for the month of July 2024. Thank
you, Cody Brands”
Austin ignored that FOIA request, which is what contributed to the FOIA lawsuit being filed.
According to the recently dismissed FOIA case, the attorney for the county makes no reference to that gmail account specifically, other than indicating the request was sent “directly to the Dive Team Commander, Austin Pritchard, however, Mr. Pritchard had previously been advised to only use the official dive team email, and therefore never received said request.”
It appears the FOIA request was, in fact, sent to an official Department Head email address that was provided by the County Clerk in two separate responses to a FOIA request. Claiming it’s not an official email when the very keeper of county records claims it is points to someone not being truthful.
This is where an interesting twist begins. I used the official email address given to me for my FOIA request.
The Dive Commander Austin Pritchard responded, and let’s just say it’s a doozy as it relates to the recent ruling from the judge and appears to make it clear, the Judge missed some very important facts or was tactfully misguided by the county’s attorney.
From: Shelby County Dive Team <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 1, 2024 9:41:19 PM
To: Kirk Allen <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: FOIA Request
Kirk,
The Shelby County Board formed the Shelby County Dive Team in July of 2023, I was appointed to commander on April 11, 2024, therefore I have no records responsive to your request.
Any future requests for information should be submitted to “ [email protected] ” and NOT my personal email, thank you.
Best regards,
Austin Pritchard
Commander, Shelby County Dive Team
What did the lawyer for the county claim in his court filing about the email used by Cody Brands, [email protected]?
“The second email attached as Exhibit B dated August 16, 2024, was sent to an email address of: [email protected]. This email account does not exist.”
How does the email not exist when, in fact, it was the Dive Commander telling people to use it for future requests?
What we have here is a case that was dismissed based on claims that two key emails were used that are not valid emails, when in fact the paper trail is overwhelming that both were valid emails and both were being used at the direction of the public officials.
Can it get any worse?
The [email protected] email is still being used by the County in regular email distributions to county officials. If that email is not a valid email, why continue to use it in communications with county officials?
One can only wonder why the county doesn’t simply provide the requested records rather than spend taxpayer dollars fighting a simple FOIA request.
No Comments