Aaron Kessler
Joplin Globe
Statehouse Bureau Chief
118C State Capitol
Jefferson City, MO 65109
(573) 751-2888
akessler@joplinglobe.com
Barbara Hogelin
City Clerk
303 E. Third Street
Joplin, MO 64801
Dear Ms. Hogelin:
This is a request for records under the Missouri Sunshine Law, Chapter 610, Revised Statutes of Missouri.
I request that you make available to me the following records: the current annual budget for the City of Joplin, including details on revenue and expenditures.
I would like these records in electronic format, preferably as an Excel spreadsheet (.xls), database (.dbf), or ASCII text (.txt). Please note that I do NOT wish to receive the records in an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file. I can accept the information via e-mail attachments, CD-ROM, or diskette.
If the Joplin Finance Department's Sunguard HTE system is incapable at this time of producing one file with the entire city budget, I request that you make the individual departments' budgets available as separate files. I have been advised by the Joplin Information Systems department that the city can indeed produce individual department budgets in electronic format, as I have requested.
As you know, Attorney General Opinion No. 153-98 held that a request for a public record to be provided in a format other than paper must be honored if the public governmental body is able to reproduce the record in that format.
Please let me know in advance if the cost of processing this request will exceed $25. I ask that you process this order within three business days, as the statue requires, or provide the detailed reasons why the records cannot be turned over in that time.
Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Aaron Kessler
Joplin Globe