Open records request - Cobb County Sheriff - Feb 15, 2021, Rony Osvaldo Perez Re; OCGA 42-4-14

Cobb Sheriff Craig Owens Jr. Photo: CCSO/WABE/Twitter

Open records request Re; Compliance with OCGA 42-4-14 Email traffic.

Email sent 11:21 AM – FEB 15, 2021

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Sheriff Owens,

Please regard this email as my official request for copies of public records.

Please send me copies of any and all documents, emails, phone logs or any record, including ~~electrons~~ (electronic) records in your office pertaining to and or associated with any arrest, custody or incarceration of one Rony Perez-Lucas who at least one local news report claims was arrested on Feb 9, 2021 and is or was confined in the Cobb County jail.

Please send me copies of any and all documents, emails, records, including electronic records, or phone logs pertaining to and or associated with any communication with federal immigration authorities in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) dealing with or associated with the arrest and confinement of the subject named above. My request includes all records in your office relating to the state law (OCGA 42-4-14) that requires your office to use reasonable effort to determine the inmate’s nationality and verify immigration status and to report the inmate to U.S. DHS if he is determined to be an illegal alien.

Please include copies of any and all documents, queries, records, including electronic records, and logs related to communication between your office and the Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC) dealing with the arrest process and or confinement of the above named subject.

I expect my request to be expanded.

Thank you in advance for a timely and relevant response.

As an informative courtesy, I paste below the entire code section OCGA 42-4-14.

D.A. King

Marietta, GA. 30066

O.C.G.A. § 42-4-14

Current through the 2020 Regular Session of the General Assembly

§ 42-4-14. “Illegal alien” defined; determination of nationality of person charged with felony and confined in a jail facility

(a)As used in this Code section, the term “illegal alien” means a person who is verified by the federal government to be present in the United States in violation of federal immigration law.

(b)When any person is confined, for any period, in the jail of a county or municipality or a jail operated by a regional jail authority in compliance with Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, a reasonable effort shall be made to determine the nationality of the person so confined.

(c)When any foreign national is confined, for any period, in a county or municipal jail, a reasonable effort shall be made to verify that such foreign national has been lawfully admitted to the United States and if lawfully admitted, that such lawful status has not expired. If verification of lawful status cannot be made from documents in the possession of the foreign national, verification shall be made within 48 hours through a query to the Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC) of the United States Department of Homeland Security or other office or agency designated by the federal government. If the foreign national is determined to be an illegal alien, the keeper of the jail or other officer shall notify the United States Department of Homeland Security, or other office or agency designated for notification by the federal government.

(d)Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to deny a person bond or from being released from confinement when such person is otherwise eligible for release; provided, however, that upon verification that any person confined in a jail is an illegal alien, such person may be detained, arrested, and transported as authorized by state and federal law.

(e)The Georgia Sheriffs Association shall prepare and issue guidelines and procedures used to comply with the provisions of this Code section.

History

Code 1981, § 42-4-14, enacted by Ga. L. 2006, p. 105, § 5/SB 529; Ga. L. 2008, p. 1137, § 4/SB 350; Ga. L. 2009, p. 8, § 42/SB 46; Ga. L. 2009, p. 970, § 2/HB 2; Ga. L. 2011, p. 794, § 13/HB 87.

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Response received from Sheriff Owens address at 11:43 AM:

Good morning Mr. King,

Please send all Open Records request for the Cobb Sheriff’s Office to Ms. Robin Clements our Custodian of Records she handles all Open records request for Cobb Sheriff’s Office.

Thank you and have a great day!

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I forwarded the original email to Robin Clements a few minutes later and was sent this response.

On Feb 15, 2021, at 12:31 PM, Clements, Robin <Robin.Clements@cobbcounty.org> wrote:

Good Morning Mr. King,

I have attached the arrest/booking report along with a color mugshot. All charges were obtained by the Cobb County Police Department, not our agency. In order to retrieve an incident report please contact Cobb County Police at policeopenrecordsofficer@cobbcounty.org. Their case number is 21009562. For information regarding the immigration status of Rony Perez please contact the Department of Homeland Security/ICE. I am only the custodian of records for the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office. Have a great rest of the day and stay safe!

Very Respectfully,

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Robin E. Clements

Executive Asst. to Chief Deputy R. W. Anderson

Public Safety Services Coordinator

185 Roswell Street

Marietta, GA 30090-9650

770.499.4748 Office

Robin.Clements@cobbcounty.org

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I then sent this (1:05 PM) in an effort to be sure my original request was clear to all concerned at the CCSO.

Ms.Clements,

Thank you. To be clear, my request included records that would exist if the Cobb County Sheriff office is in compliance with OCGA 42-4-14. I want to be sure there is no confusion and that these are the only records your office can produce for my request on the booking and incarceration of this individual, including any records that would exist due to compliance with the above state law.

I strive for accuracy.

dak

I support the police.
All lives matter.

__________

Then I received this response:

Then I received this response (February 18, 2021, 3:20 PM)

Good Afternoon Mr. King,

I have attached the arrest/booking report. There is detainer that has been placed on Mr. Perez for Homeland Security. The booking that I sent you on Monday stated there was a detainer placed per 287g. This was entered in error on the booking sheet and has since been corrected. All charges were obtained by the Cobb County Police Department. In order to retrieve an incident report please contact Cobb County Police at policeopenrecordsofficer@cvobbcounty.org. Their case number is 21009562. For information regarding the immigration status of Rony Perez please contact the Department of Homeland Security/ICE. Have a great rest of the day and stay safe!

______________

Here is the (corrected) booking report from the Cobb jail

OCGA 20-3-66 – Determination of in-state resident status of students for tuition or fees

Plea for passage of legislation inaccurate

In an introduction to a recent guest column aimed at pending state higher education legislation on the AJC’S “Get Schooled” blog AJC columnist Maureen Downey leads readers to believe that refugees cannot access instate tuition in Georgia’s public colleges.

In the column (“Afghan women refugees like me want a future in Georgia”) writer Husnia Jamal, apparently a refugee, also laments “But I, like so many other displaced people living in Georgia, found out that I could not access in-state tuition here — no matter how long I live, work, or pay state taxes — because of my immigration status.” As she is migrating to Georgia from Afghanistan, Jamal could also be an ‘SIV’ (Special Visa Immigrant).

A quick look at the Board of Regents webpage on instate tuition eligibility illustrates the truth: ”…lawful permanent residents, refugees, asylees, or other eligible noncitizens may be extended the same consideration as citizens of the United States in determining whether they qualify for in-state classification.” This includes SIV recipients.

Correction requested.

D.A. KING

PRESIDENT, THE DUSTIN INMAN SOCIETY

MARIETTA, GA. 30066

Reply, soon after (thirteen minutes) I emailed my letter for consideration to be published:

Hello D.A.,

This is the passage in full from the reference you cite:

A non-citizen student shall not be classified as in-state for tuition purposes unless the student is legally in this state and there is evidence to warrant consideration of in-state classification as determined by the Board of Regents. Lawful permanent residents, refugees, asylees, or other eligible noncitizens as defined by federal Title IV regulations may be extended the same consideration as citizens of the United States in determining whether they qualify for in-state classification.

As you know from your advocacy, this has long been an issue with public colleges in Georgia. It’s affected straight-A students who arrived here as minors that I know of personally, and who could not pursue a college education in Georgia.

If nothing else, IMHO, the word “may” above (as opposed to say “shall”) leaves ample room for interpretation, good, bad or indifferent, as to who’s eligible for in-state tuition, especially when combined with how the “evidence” mentioned of above is assessed.

So, to my mind, no correction’s warranted to the Op-Ed.

Thanks for continuing to read the AJC.

All best,

Andre Jackson

Opinion Editor

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Andre.Jackson@ajc.com

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