Is Metadata a Public Record? An Analysis Under Federal FOIA

UPDATED: June 22, 2011. The court withdrew the opinion analyzed below on June 17, 2011. See National Day Laborer Organizing Network v. United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (S.D.N.Y. June 17, 2011). Although the opinion no longer has any precedential value, Judge Scheindlin’s analysis of whether and to what extent metadata is part of a public record is likely to  influence future developments in this area of law.

As detailed in previous posts (see here, here, and here), analyzing the emerging issue of whether, and to what extent, the metadata associated with a public record is part of that public record for purposes of public access is akin to piecing together a puzzle on a case-by-case basis. There is now an additional piece to that puzzle—perhaps an important one.

Recently, a federal district court judge issued an opinion addressing the extent to which metadata is part of an electronic record pursuant to the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Specifically, in National Day Laborer Organizing Network v. United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, 2011 WL 381625 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 7, 2011), Judge Shira Scheindlin held that “metadata maintained by an agency as part of an electronic record is presumptively producible under FOIA, unless the agency demonstrates that such metadata is not ‘readily reproducible.’” (emphasis in original). Read more »

Zoning and Satellite Annexations

One of these days the developer of a proposed new energy-efficient open-space development (Greenfields) will come calling on the city. It will propose that the city satellite annex the Greenfields property, located almost a mile outside of town. Greenfields will need city water and sewer and will be prepared to pay for its extension. City council members will talk about how the expensive housing units and innovative design will generate more in city revenues than they will cost in services. The zoning? That won’t be a problem, will it? Read on if you want to ensure that the zoning of such a satellite annexation (or, for that matter, any voluntary annexation) is well-conceived and proceeds as planned. Read more »

Records About Employment Actions: Clarifying What Is and Isn’t Public

Imagine that a local newspaper has requested the following information from a public agency: “A list of all disciplinary actions taken by the agency during the calendar year 2010 against any and all persons employed by the agency, including the name of the individual employee who was disciplined and all of the records pertaining to the disciplinary action, as well as copies of any letters of termination or any other documents that might provide reasons for the terminations.”  You might think that all of this information is now public under the new laws affecting personnel records. You would be wrong. Read more »

Bankruptcy and Tax Collection

I love a good flowchart.  To me, nothing can simplify a complex process better than a well designed flowchart.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had flowcharts to help us navigate some of life’s more difficult decisions? Flowcharts would certainly be helpful when asking, “Which house should we buy?”  Or, “Is that new job opportunity right for me?” Maybe even, “Should I have another shot of tequila?”

Sadly, I can’t help with those sticky situations other than to share my observation that more tequila rarely produces positive consequences.  But I can offer two flowcharts that should be helpful to tax collectors dealing with the increasingly common problem of taxpayer bankruptcies.  Read more »

Counting the Days

Paul Purchaser is putting the final touches on his first Invitation for Bids (IFB) for Carolina City, and he’s trying to figure out when he has to place the advertisement for the IFB in the newspaper. He knows the formal bidding statute says something about 7 days between the advertisement and the bid opening, but does that include weekends? Or holidays? And does he include the first day the advertisement appears in the count? Or the day of the bid opening itself? Read more »

Is this letter worth the paper it’s printed on?

You have an official letter from a responsible town official responding to your query about zoning. Can you rely on that letter? What legal effect does it have? Consider this situation. Read more »

County Fire Tax Districts

Counties and municipalities in North Carolina are not required to furnish (or fund) fire protection services for their citizens, but many local governments provide, or contract for the provision of, these services within their units. And, typically that fire protection extends beyond basic fire prevention and suppression services to include, among other things, emergency dispatch services, medical and other response services, and building code enforcement. The types and level of fire services that local governments provide and fund often vary significantly across their territorial boundaries, though. There is no duty of equal service to all properties or citizens within a unit. That means that a local governing board may choose to provide fire services in some areas within its jurisdiction and not in others, or it may choose to provide a higher level of fire services in some areas than in others. Counties, in particular, tend to provide different levels of fire services across their unincorporated territories. This raises questions about how local governments can and should fund the fire services.

Most local governments use general fund revenues, including general property tax revenues, to fund at least a portion of their fire services. In fact, municipalities typically finance all (or almost all) of their fire protection services with general fund revenues. Counties have an additional option. At least under certain circumstances, counties may establish special tax districts to fund fire services. There are actually two different types of tax districts available to fund fire services—rural fire protection districts and county fire service tax districts. The special tax districts allow counties to raise revenue from those property owners who directly benefit (or more directly benefit) from the fire services.

This Local Finance Bulletin analyzes the authority for creating the districts and levying the district taxes, as well as the processes for establishing and modifying the districts. It also explores the relationships among the fire tax districts, fire response areas, and fire insurance districts. As a teaser to that broader exposition, this post briefly describes the two types of fire tax districts counties are allowed to establish and highlights the major differences between them. Read more »