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RE: PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of October 27, 2026, Reference # R029530-102726

Dear Robert Samuel White,
The Oregon Department of Transportation received a records request from you on October 27, 2026. You requested:
“Please see the attached document.
[To the Public Records Officer, Department of Transportation:

Under ORS 192.314, I request the following public records of the Department of Transportation. This request excludes any record concerning me. It concerns only how the Department of Transportation communicates with the Oregon State Police about other members of the public.

Records requested. All emails, including attachments and replies, sent to or received from either of these Oregon State Police addresses:
•	Captain Kyle Kennedy, Government and Media Relations ([email])
•	OSP Public Information Officer ([email])
That contain any of these terms:
•	“threat assessment”
•	“situational awareness”
•	“welfare check”
•	“knock and talk”
•	“grievance”
Date range: January 1, 2023, to the date of search.

Custody. Records sent from or received by Department of Transportation accounts are records of the Department of Transportation, wherever they are stored, including systems maintained by DAS Enterprise Information Services. If you believe another public body is the custodian of any responsive record, please identify that custodian and the basis for the determination in writing, rather than closing the request (ORS 192.311).

The search. Please state in writing:
•	The accounts, systems, and archives used;
•	The exact terms and date range used;
•	The date of the search and the title of the person who conducted it;
•	The number of responsive records found.

The statute does not require it, but courtesy does. If there are no responsive records, please say so in writing, with the search described above.

…
Fee waiver. I request a waiver of all fees under ORS 192.324(5). Disclosure primarily benefits the general public:

1. Requester’s identity. I maintain oprdvolunteerabuse.org, a public archive of Oregon state government records. It has published complete public records productions from the Oregon State Police, Department of Administrative Services, and Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. This request excludes any record concerning me.

2. Purpose. To publish, in full and without charge, records showing whether and how state agencies refer members of the public to the State Police through its Government and Media Relations section.

3. Character of the information. The records show whether state agencies use the Government and Media Relations section of the State Police to handle members of the public who contact them. This concerns the use of police power, civil liberties protected by Article I, section 8 of the Oregon Constitution and the First Amendment, and compliance with ORS 181A.250, which bars police from collecting information about a person’s political or social views or activities without reasonable suspicion of criminal involvement.

4. Public domain. No public record shows how often state agencies make such referrals. The only documented instance is in Oregon State Police records produced under PR27478. They show that on March 3, 2026, a state agency forwarded a member of the public to the captain of Government and Media Relations “for situational awareness,” without alleging a crime, and that a threat assessment was ordered the next day. Those records are published at https://u4037834.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.-2FAS5I4Q2WzghfBbrz2TDtUPUm4CVbvEi4WxXsQ5D5vHMm1ynBSwHvyXO5dXDob1kV3oWKaBMEGeDEsQ9YDK4SxjK7qAVFeL64Ms-2BdZ3EFWY-3DI-LS_0GMYb285Q7ANw-2BFhpRsBxTcZL2NSl1YhjkXKIqm3pNS-2BcVAcvsyQ2pwBP-2Fm7I-2BxHn4owTdE7qmGczm4YmZx2-2B5KOuy593-2FcKbyV-2BMSLrh1yQzhY1sNpk7R5B5nxb-2FwLem0lkXyjFCSdWhltLNTmNVF44uwRSLsld2oKHYPfTNb9K1uzz3DSiVzGR3ty573FkpWPyrgn-2FhqlqeYEn9-2BWPwQ-3D-3D

5. Ability to disseminate. The archive has published every production it has received, with original files and metadata, at no charge. Records from this request will be published the same way. I have no commercial interest in them.

I request a waiver of all fees under ORS 192.324(5). If a full waiver is denied, I request a reduction of fees under the same provision. If the waiver is denied or a reduction is granted in part, please give the reasons in writing for each factor, state the amount or percentage of any reduction and its basis, and provide an itemized estimate before any work begins, showing the tasks, the hours for each, and the hourly rate of the employee performing each…]”

Having reviewed your request, we are able to confirm that ODOT is the custodian of at least some of the requested public records. ODOT is providing our fee estimate in a phased approach. The first phase will encompass a data pull. The estimate below is only for the first phase and once that phase is complete, we will provide an estimate for the review and production of records. ODOT will provide an estimate for phase two once we know the scope of records that will need to be reviewed.

You have requested a fee waiver or reduction in fees for production of records. ODOT considers and grants reasonable requests to waive or reduce fees associated with fulfilling a public records request when doing so is in the public interest because providing access primarily benefits the general public. Requests for a fee waiver or reduction are evaluated on a case-by-case basis using information you as the requester have provided as well as information independently available to the agency.

ODOT has reviewed your request for a fee waiver and does not find disclosure of the requested records are in the public interest. It is unknown if ODOT staff would reach out to OSP’s Government and Media Relations staff and Public Information Officer for such a request. ODOT will have to run an Outlook data query of all ODOT email accounts over a three year period to determine if there are responsive records to this request. Then, agency staff will have to review, compile and prepare each record for release. We will not know the volume of records until staff complete the Outlook data query. This is a labor intensive task and it may take significant staff time to fulfill your request. 

ODOT is not denying the release of any public records in this case, except for those records or information contained in those records deemed exempt upon ODOT’s review, but we are declining to release them at no charge. If you disagree with ODOT’s decision regarding the fee waiver, you may visit this DOJ website to learn about your appeal rights. See ORS 192.411 and 192.324(6).

It has been determined that the charge for the production of the records you have requested will exceed $25.00. Pursuant to ORS 192.324, ODOT is providing you with an itemized estimate of the anticipated charges:

Fees Charged for Phase 1: $37.50 for 1 hour of professional services staff (ODOT Server Applications Analyst) research time at $75 per hour. We have deducted the first 30 minutes of staff time, which are provided at no charge to all requesters.

Estimated Total: $37.50
Please let me know if you will accept these estimated costs and want ODOT to proceed with the data pull. If you do not respond to this letter within 60 days after the date this statement is sent, your request will be deemed withdrawn under ORS 192.329 unless you have advised ODOT that you will accept and will agree to pay the estimated cost, modify your request in response to the cost estimate or that you have sent a complaint to the Office of the Attorney General alleging that you have been overcharged for public information. Please note: per ORS 192.329(3)(a), ODOT requires payment of its estimated fees before taking further action on a request, but if the actual charges are less than the prepayment, any overpayment will be promptly refunded. At this time, we estimate we can complete the data pull within approximately 10 business days from receipt of payment. ODOT will provide an estimate for phase two once we know the scope of records that would need to be reviewed.

You may provide a response to ODOT by responding to this email. Please note that no further work will be undertaken until we receive your response.

If you agree to accept the charges, please do so in writing as detailed above and I will send you an invoice and link to pay or instructions to pay by check. This letter details the charges for pulling the records you have requested. If you wish to reduce the scope of your request, this may reduce costs.

Please contact me and let me know how you would like to proceed.
Sincerely,
[ODOT Staff]
Public Records & Administrative Rules Coordinator

To monitor the progress or update this request please log into the Public Records Center