Thank your Mr. White. We ask for the form merely to assist us in sharing the request internally to ensure the nature of the response is understood and fulfilled accordingly. It is not meant to be a blockade to providing service.

Our Communications Team and the OISC are aware of your request. We will reply before the end of the week.

Chris Benemann, Division Director
& State Plant Regulatory Official (SPRO)
Oregon Department of Agriculture – Plant Protection and Conservation
635 Capitol St NE, Salem, OR 97301-2532
PH: [phone] | Oregon.gov/ODA | Pronouns: she, her, hers

From: Robert Samuel White <rsw@rswfire.com>
Date: Monday, November 2, 2026 at 11:00 AM
To: BENEMANN Chris * ODA <[email]>
Subject: Re: Public Records Request

Public Records Officer,

On November 2, 2026, you wrote: “For awareness, the OISC lives within the authority of the Oregon Department of Agriculture. Oregon state protocols for public record requests apply.”[1] You wrote it in answer to my written request of October 31, 2026.[2]

The Oregon Invasive Species Council is a public body in its own right. The statute says: “‘Public body’ includes every state officer, agency, department, division, bureau, board and commission; every county and city governing body, school district, special district, municipal corporation, and any board, department, commission, council, or agency thereof; and any other public agency of this state.” [ORS 192.311(4)]

I will update our records to note that the Oregon Department of Agriculture can answer for the council. That does not change the council’s obligations under my current request. The Attorney General’s manual says: “A public body’s legal obligation to respond to a public records request is triggered by receipt of a written request.”[3] The council has received mine.

Thank you for your contribution to the record.

Robert Samuel White

[1] Your letter, November 2, 2026, https://openrecordsoregon.org/record/r1/01M6EQY2GR6KNMV67RZVDEDZR7/
[2] My request, October 31, 2026, https://openrecordsoregon.org/record/r1/01M6AM6C5RWMQGZSTREKZSMGQE/
[3] Attorney General’s Public Records and Meetings Manual (2024), p. 8, https://www.doj.state.or.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2024-PRM-Manual.pdf#page=26