MEMORANDUM
To: Doug Cupples, Jasper County Chairman
101 1st Street N
Room 203
Newton, IA 50208
641-792-7016
Denny Carpenter, Jasper County Vice-Chairman
101 1st Street N
Room 203
Newton, IA 50208
641-792-7016
Brandon Talsma, Jasper County Board Member
101 1st Street N
Room 203
Newton, IA 50208
641-792-7016
Scott Nicholson, Jasper County Attorney
114 West 3rd Street N
Newton, IA 50208
641-792-5010
Subj: IOWA OPEN RECORDS REQUEST – JASPER COUNTY, IA – #005
Ref: 1. Iowa Code Title I State Sovereignty and Management, Chapter 22 Examination of Public Records (Open Records)
1. Introduction
Iowa Public Information Board Executive Director Margaret Johnson submitted a Dismissal Order for Iowa Public Information Board case: 22FC:0091 on 11 OCT 2022 while communicating, “Public records are defined in Iowa Code section 22.1(3)(a) as records “stored or preserved in any medium, of or belonging to… any county…..” If the government body does not store or preserve a specific record, then there is a no record to be released to a record requester.”; “The Jasper County attorney contacted the IPIB on September 16, 2022, and filed a response on September 22, 2022. In response to the complaint, the County attorney stated that the County “has no such list.” It does not exist anywhere. There is no “public record” of such a list kept anywhere in Jasper County, including in its computer systems. Because such a list does not exist, it is impossible to comply with Mr. Merritt’s request.”
Evidence indicates that Jasper County, IA Attorney Scott Nicholson is inconsistently representing what Jasper County, IA defines as a public record that is stored and preserved in accordance with Iowa Code Section 22.1(3)(a). At the same time, inconsistently releasing public records publicly available DNS records show Jasper County, IA stores and preserves on information systems Jasper County, IA has leased, contracted or entered into a terms of service with a commercial information systems provider. If Jasper County, IA “has no such list.” or “public record” of such a list kept anywhere in Jasper County including in its computer systems.” The logical solution is to request that Jasper County, IA provide public records regarding what this government body’s employees view on their computer monitors regarding hosted data that belongs to Jasper County, IA that is stored or preserved on information systems Jasper County, IA currently has entered into a lease, contractual agreement, or other terms of service with the commercial entity providing the service.
1. Requested Information
(a.) All Jasper County, IA electronic mail correspondence, including attachments mentioning Mike Merritt, Mike J Merritt, Mike J. Merritt, Mike James Merritt, Michael Merritt, Michael J Merritt, Michael J. Merritt, Michael James Merritt, Facebook, block, social media, phoenixharbor.com, and castlephoenix.com during 01 JAN 2019 at 0001 local time through 18 OCT 2022 at 2359 local time stored and preserved at domain: co.jasper.ia.us – or any other maintained automated information system (AIS), information system (IS), or commercial cloud-based information system belonging to Jasper County, IA.
(1.) Confirmation co.jasper.ia.us is hosted, stored, and preserved at: co-jasper-ia-
us.mail.protection.outlook.com
(a) 12 months of billing for this commercially hosted cloud-based information system
service.
(b.) All Jasper County, IA electronic mail correspondence, including attachments mentioning Mike Merritt, Mike J Merritt, Mike J. Merritt, Mike James Merritt, Michael Merritt, Michael J Merritt, Michael J. Merritt, Michael James Merritt, Facebook, block, social media, phoenixharbor.com, and castlephoenix.com during 01 JAN 2019 at 0001 local time through 18 OCT 2022 at 2359 local time stored and preserved at domain: jasperia.org – or any other maintained automated information system (AIS), information system (IS), or commercial cloud-based information system belonging to Jasper County, IA.
(1.) Confirmation jasperia.org is hosted, stored, and preserved at: jasperia- org.mail.protection.outlook.com
(a) 12 months of billing for this commercially hosted cloud-based information system
service.
(c.) All Jasper County, IA electronic mail correspondence, including attachments mentioning Mike Merritt, Mike J Merritt, Mike J. Merritt, Mike James Merritt, Michael Merritt, Michael J Merritt, Michael J. Merritt, Michael James Merritt, Facebook, block, social media, phoenixharbor.com, and castlephoenix.com during 19 DEC 2019 at 0001 local time through 18 OCT 2022 at 2359 local time stored and preserved at domain: jaspercoatty.org – or any other maintained automated information system (AIS), information system (IS), or commercial cloud-based information system belonging to Jasper County, IA.
(1.) Confirmation jaspercoatty.org is hosted, stored, and preserved at: jaspercoatty- org.mail.protection.outlook.com
(a) 12 months of billing for this commercially hosted cloud-based information system
service.
(d.) Name and annual income of the Jasper County, IA elected, appointed, contracted, hired employee(s) or authorized users that are authorized to access and maintain the following social media assets; Meta Platforms Inc. – Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/JasperCountyIowa
(e.) Name and annual income of the Jasper County, IA elected, appointed, contracted, hired employee(s), or authorized users that are authorized to access and maintain the following social media assets; Meta Platforms Inc. – Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/dougcupplesjaspercountysupervisor
(f.) Name and annual income of the Jasper County, IA elected, appointed, contracted, hired employee(s), or authorized users that are authorized to access and maintain the following social media assets; Meta Platforms Inc. – Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/brandontalsmajaspercountysupervisor
(g.) Jasper County, IA web traffic history showing elected, appointed, contracted, hired employee(s), or authorized users accessing the following web address (URL) on any maintained domain, automated information system (AIS), information system (IS), or commercial cloud-based information system belonging to Jasper County, IA: https://www.facebook.com/JasperCountyIowa
(h.) Jasper County, IA web traffic history showing elected, appointed, contracted, hired employee(s), or authorized users accessing the following web address (URL) on any maintained domain, automated information system (AIS), information system (IS), or commercial cloud-based information system belonging to Jasper County, IA: https://www.facebook.com/dougcupplesjaspercountysupervisor
(i.) Jasper County, IA web traffic history showing elected, appointed, contracted, hired employee(s), or authorized users accessing the following web address (URL) on any maintained domain, automated information system (AIS), information system (IS), or commercial cloud-based information system belonging to Jasper County, IA: https://www.facebook.com/brandontalsmajaspercountysupervisor
(j.) Jasper County, IA web traffic history showing elected, appointed, contracted, hired employee(s) or authorized users accessing the following web address (URL) on any maintained domain, automated information system (AIS), information system (IS), or commercial cloud-based information system belonging to Jasper County, IA: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=blocking
(k.) Jasper County, IA web traffic history showing elected, appointed, contracted, hired employee(s), or authorized users accessing any web address (URL) including the word “block” on any maintained domain, automated information system (AIS), information system (IS), or commercial cloud-based information system belonging to Jasper County, IA.
(l.) Jasper County, IA web traffic history showing elected, appointed, contracted, hired employee(s), or authorized users accessing any of the following web addresses (URL) on any maintained domain, automated information system (AIS), information system (IS), or commercial cloud-based information system belonging to Jasper County, IA:
1. http://netflix.com
2. https://netflix.com
3. http://www.netflix.com
4. https://www.netflix.com
5. http://hulu.com
6. https://hulu.com
7. http://www.hulu.com
8. https://www.hulu.com
9. http://hbomax.com
10. https://hbomax.com
11. http://www.hbomax.com
12. https://www.hbomax.com
13. http://disneyplus.com
14. https://disneyplus.com
15. http://www.disneyplus.com
16. https://www.disneyplus.com
17. http://paramountplus.com
18. https://paramountplus.com
19. http://www.paramountplus.com
20. https://www.paramountplus.com
21. http://youtube.com
22. https://youtube.com
23. http://www.youtube.com
24. https://www.youtube.com
25. http://music.youtube.com
26. https://music.youtube.com
27. http://www.music.youtube.com
28. https://www.music.youtube.com
29. http://spotify.com
30. https://spotify.com
31. http://www.spotify.com
32. https://www.spotify.com
33. http://music.apple.com
34. https://music.apple.com
35. http://www.music.apple.com
36. https://www.music.apple.com
37. http://music.amazon.com
38. https://music.amazon.com
39. http://www.music.amazon.com
40. https://www.music.amazon.com
41. http://xbox.com
42. https://xbox.com
43. http://www.xbox.com
44. https://www.xbox.com
45. http://steampowered.com
46. https://steampowered.com
47. http://www.steampowered.com
48. https://www.steampowered.com
(m.) The desired format of requested data: Thumb drive (at Jasper County published rate):
(n.) The originator of this request is not responsible for any cost generated by the production or organization of this data if the clerical, professional, clerical staff, legal fees, or any other required actions or cost exceed 10 hours or $1000 (whichever comes first) without prior coordination and approval from the originator of this request.
(o.) Distribution of Requested Data: Priority Mail sent to the originator of this request. Respectfully,
2. Conclusion
It would seem logical for Jasper County, IA, to utilize one domain (co.jasper.ia.us) and consolidate all information system resources under that domain instead of each department having a separate domain, as this government body has implemented. Consolidating all county assets within one domain will improve efficiency, productivity, management, record request responses, and lower cost to taxpayers. Individual personnel should have their own account and electronic mail address; however, there should be shared electronic mail addresses that can be reallocated to newly elected, appointed, contracted, hired employees, or authorized users. This implementation will improve the efficiency of daily operations and personnel turnover when there is a change of command regarding an elected or appointed position.
Jasper County, IA, needs to improve its information systems security posture by not publishing electronic mail addresses to the public internet. Two variables enable authentication to an information system:
1. username (electronic mail address)
2. password
Jasper County, IA, and many government bodies perpetuate this paradigm on the public internet, simplifying while increasing the possibility of unauthorized access to their information systems.
To maintain contact with constituents while improving information security, Jasper County, IA needs to implement public mailboxes that are generic for each elected, appointed, or departmental position and map those public mailboxes to internal authenticated user accounts.
Examples of the only electronic mail addresses that should be published publicly online:
1. supervisors@co.jasper.ia.us
2. attorney@co.jasper.ia.us
3. sheriff@co.jasper.ia.us
4. auditor@co.jasper.ia.us
5. recorder@co.jasper.ia.us
6. health@co.jasper.ia.us
7. records@co.jasper.ia.us
8. Other Departments/Offices that interact with the public.
By mapping individual user accounts internally with positional accounts that are published publicly, Jasper County, IA, will be positioned to improve information security while still providing public accommodations (electronic communications) for the public to utilize while executing their rights as protected by Section 2 and 7 of Article 1 of the Constitution of the State of Iowa and the 1st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. At the same time, protecting actual authentication and electronic mail address information for user accounts of Jasper County, IA information systems from being harvested by hackers off the Jasper County, IA website.
Additionally, there is a retired veteran living in Jasper County, IA that can assist with making our county website more reflective of who we are as a people by including imagery that reflects Jasper County, IA and not what evidence indicates are licensed images from shutterstock.com.
