In the state’s public-records law, The Clarion-Ledger requested in February, Gov. Haley Barbour’s office to produce four days’ worth of e-mail Barbour staff of about 40 people. Governor Office responded on March 27, An estimate of $ 14170.48.
Leslie Graves, the president of the Institute for Wisconsin-Lucy Burns, the government encourages the outstanding issues, said, is by far the highest value of the dollar, it has heard of any of these claims.
“They,” she said, adding that in an era of increasingly technological, lightness, Barbour’s answer to the question was “prehistoric”.
The estimate does not include can-$ 7500 private lawyers for verifying the e-mail to exempt equipment, $ 5400 for an “out-of-town consultant, almost $ 800 for employees of the Division of Finance and administration’s the Office of Information Technology to collect messages, and just under $ 500 for the governor of the press, of the secretariat, in order to give them a final check.
Graves is one of the organizers of the Blogger Sunshine Project, an effort to determine whether the governors of the preservation of electronic documents based on the rule of law, public records they produce, and if they can in response to a request for public records. The Clarion-Ledger, which has opened a blog Government on its website, in the exercise, using an application to the agency Barbour on February 21 for all e-mails sent or received by February 15 at midnight, Feb. 19.
Graves noted Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, and Charlie Crist, the Republican governor of Florida, has responded to the same requirements in the production of e-mails within a few days, and at no cost. They needed to pay the originator of the e-mail referenced fees range from $ 200 to $ 1350 for records.
Buddy Bynum, Barbour Director of Communications, the estimate is reasonable given the breadth of the request.
“It seems to me that this is the best estimate of what it would cost to your application,” he said.
Bynum said the governor office properly archived all of its e-mails, but has no way to get to them without the help of technology experts.
“It can be archived or already filed or of the assets of our system,” he said.
It would not explain why the request of the State required to enter into an “out-of-town computer consultants.
“The letter speaks for itself on that. You are cordially invited to quote,” he said. “I am not prepared to go beyond the letter. We are, just like a polite dialogue with you.”
The letter said: “The Mississippi Department of Finance & Administration do not receive this e-mail for registration Governor’s office in extracting a separate file and in the system involves a substantial amount of time and know-how, staff DFA can not circumvent Intern. DFA requires the support of a consultant, in order to respond properly. ”
Prior to the cost estimate, the governor, the Bureau requested twice the Clarion-Ledger, to meet the demand on a given subject “for the high cost for checking e-mails for the period requested.
The bulk of the costs of non-employees, the governor plans to hire to meet demand. Bynum said that in the best interest of the state as a whole.
“The governor of the employee and the DFA can not work at the request … And neglect their work at the front all the others, “he said.
On the question of whether getting the same e-mail address, which would require time help outside the computer and legal experts, Bynum said: “We are not the answer to the hypothetical. ”
Leonard Van Slyke, an expert on public records on the Mississippi and the right to an attorney for The Clarion-Ledger, the law authorizes the state governor said, to cover the actual costs for the recovery of records of the request . But he said he does not believe it is the hiring of staff from non-governmental organizations to do.
“I think it was probably someone in the Government of the State of Mississippi, the pull-E-mail in the system,” he said.
Ninety-one percent of the costs estimated by the issue of hiring outside counsel.
“The ability to charge actual costs should not be used continuously as a method for the production of records,” said Van Slyke. “A government of unity is not allowed to go outside and cost under way.”
Graves, said the governor of the solution seems to describe a system, it is not being transparent. These costs would be extreme public Barbour admissions office outside the reach for citizens.
Bynum, conscious of the project, a few governors would not share the e-mail address at all.
“It would certainly be cheaper to refuse to answer,” he said.
In Mississippi, Governor of the e-mail are open to the public record, although some materials may be excluded for specific reasons, such as the debate on personnel matters or business secrets by the government contractor