Please keep in mind that everything has a reason. The Chief made my point. The City Clerk is incredibly professional and quick at getting back. Enough time has passed that I can post this now. You’ll see the next steps right out in the open.
Good morning Bobby,
I have all the grant information compiled and ready to send your way. Would you prefer I send this information via a OneDrive link, or by mailing a flash drive? The flash drive would allow you unlimited access to the data. If you would instead prefer a OneDrive link, we would request you download the data within 24 hours of receipt, at which time such link will become inactive.
Regarding the criminal case, please see the below response from our Chief of Police.
Robert Oliveira
Warwick, RI
Re: Public Records Request
Robert Oliveira:
I am writing in response to your “FOIA” request which I received on June 16, 2023 via email. Your request is included here and is considered attachment #1.
As an effort to educate, FOIA or Freedom of Information Act applies to Federal Agencies only. Since we are not a federal agency, the FOIA guidelines do not apply to us. The process of requesting information from local or state agencies is based on Nebraska State Statutes. I will base my response on those applicable statutes, not FOIA guidelines.
Reference your request for information relating to the arrest and conviction of Celeste Burgess, the case is still pending in court, and Nebraska § 84-712.05 (5) provides that law enforcement agency records are not public records. In addition, you requested copies of judicial proceedings and conviction information. Judicial proceedings and conviction information is not part of our database and therefore not available from our agency.
We are including the media release relating to this incident that was released on May 4, 2022 which is public record.
There may be additional written and electronic communications in the department and are likely investigative and not public records. Due to the number of electronic communications that would need to be reviewed to determine if they are public or not, we require a deposit. Nebraska law requires payment of special service costs in advance by the records requestor due to the significant difficulty or extensiveness of the request. Although your request involves extensive law enforcement agency records that are not public, it would be necessary to contract for special services and the cost of special services to review all records requested to determine if there are any responsive public records. The estimated costs at this time to contract for special services to begin this project is at least $500, which by law must be paid in advance within 10 business days. The costs do not include the first 4 cumulative hours of staff time as allowed by Nebraska State Statutes. We are currently at or beyond the 4 hours allocated.
You are advised the special services cost of $500 to begin the project is only an estimate. If the cost increases during the project, you would need to pay any additional estimated cost within 10 business days for completion of the project.
At this time, we cannot estimate any time sooner than one month for completion of the project upon advance payment of the special services cost.
Thank you,
Brianna
Brianna Duerst | City Clerk
City of Norfolk | 309 N 5th St | Norfolk, NE 68701-4092
T: 402-844-2012 | http://www.norfolkne.gov
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