“Tell me how the search was done.”
He responds to the Oregon Board of Optometry’s answer of November 2, 2026, and writes, “Tell me how the search was done.”
Public Records Officer,
On November 2, 2026, you wrote: “the Oregon Board of Optometry has no records related to your request.”1
You did not say which system was searched, which terms were used, who ran it, or how many results came back. My request asks for each of those.2 Other agencies answered the same request and said how. DCBS ran it as one query.3 DOR’s network engineer ran it the day after the request.4 The Columbia River Gorge Commission ran it and had 0 results the next day.5 ODOT priced it, across every mailbox for three years, at one hour.6
You also wrote: “None of the requested information has been conveyed and would have been covered under ORS 676 as confidential.” My request did not ask what you believe was conveyed. It asked for records and for the record of the search that looked for them. In one sentence you say the records do not exist and that they would be withheld if they did. The statute allows a public body to assert an exemption for records it has, “any requested records” it believes an exemption applies to [ORS 192.329(2)(b)]. It does not allow a ruling on records no one has found. An answer to a public records request states what was searched and what was found. A verdict on the requester’s question does not belong in it.
Tell me how the search was done. If none was run, run it. Follow the statute [ORS 192.329(1)].
Thank you for your contribution to the record.
