Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capitol Dispatch:
In January, the Iowa Capital Dispatch filed a formal, written Open Records Law request with both Muscatine County Sheriff Quinn Riess and Jail Administrator Matt McCleary, requesting a copy of the county jail’s contract to house ICE detainees. Neither Riess or McCleary responded to the request or to subsequent letters and phone calls on the matter.
On Feb. 4, the Capital Dispatch made a similar request of Muscatine County Attorney Korie Talkington. On Feb. 19, Talkington responded by stating that she had turned over the request to ICE for that agency to handle through the federal Freedom of Information Act. Any future communication on the issue, she said, would come from ICE and not from the county.
After the Capital Dispatch objected, noting that it was not seeking access to federal records held by ICE but to county records subject to Iowa’s Open Records Law, Talkington replied with a letter in which she stated, “I am not able to provide a copy of the contract with ICE/DHS. Release is a violation of federal law.”
Meanwhile:
The ICE employee Talkington identified, Shayla Wray, said Monday she writes the jail contracts for ICE, and said she was not aware Muscatine County had already asserted that federal law bars public disclosure of its contract with ICE. “I don’t know,” Wray said, “I don’t think that’s the case.”
This is fuckery from top to bottom.