Maybe. Maybe not.

On Tue, 10/19/10, City Lawyer <clawyer@our_town.com> wrote:

From: City Lawyer <clawyer@our_town.com>

Subject: YOUR FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUESTS

Date: Tuesday, October 19, 2010, 2:08 PM

To: Redacted (gospelmidi)

Dear Mr. (gospelmidi),

You recently delivered two (2) undated Freedom of Information Act requests to the Our_Town Police Department. I have been asked to respond on behalf of the Department.

1. You request “a printout of names and addresses of all felons residing in Our_Town.”

The Our_Town Police Department does not maintain a list of convicted felons, and I am not aware of any State or local government agency that maintains or disseminates such a list with one exception: State law requires every convicted adult sex offender to notify the sheriff in the offender’s county of residence that he or she is living in the jurisdiction. The county sheriff makes this information available to the public upon request, and State Law Enforcement maintains a Statewide listing online. The Freedom of Information Act does not require a government agency to create a list that it does not maintain in the normal course of business. Also, there is some question as to whether the United States Constitution allows a police agency to maintain and disseminate a list of persons who have served their debts to society unless those persons are sex offenders or suspects in other crimes under investigation.

2. You request “a list of names and addresses of undocumented immigrants and illegal aliens residing in Our_Town.”

The Our_Town Police Department does not maintain such a list, and I am not aware of any State or local government agency that maintains or disseminates such a list. Once again, the Freedom of Information Act does not require a government agency to create a list that it does not maintain in the normal course of business. Because persons who have entered the United States illegally and/or without documentation stay “under the radar” and rarely have “papers” for law enforcement to document addresses, etc., I am not sure how one would compile this list or whether it would contain enough true and accurate data so as to be of any value.

I hope this information is of assistance to you.

Sincerely,

City_Lawyer

Attorney at Law

City of Our_Town / Our_Town Police Department

1234 East West St.

Our_Town, US 00000

Serving the Citizens of Our_Town Since Time Was

My response:

Dear City_Lawyer,

So this basically means that, “felons and illegal aliens are not allowed to vote,” is null and void.

Thank you for your response.

Sincerely in Christ,

Redacted (gospelmidi)

__________________________________

How much more simple it would have been to say, “The Our_Town P.D. confers with the Our_Town Registrar and validates the voter rolls against the felon list, to bring the voter rolls into compliance with state law.”</clawyer@our_town.com></clawyer@our_town.com>