LANSING, MI-- The Michigan Department of Corrections released the following in response to Ed McBroom's request for information on the decision to close the Ojibway Correctional Facility in Gogebic County:
"On Aug. 20, the Michigan Department of Corrections received a Freedom of Information Act request from former state Rep. Ed McBroom.
"Below is the text of his request.
"Any and all written correspondence, which includes emails, text messages, letters, memos and reports written by or received by the department regarding 1) actions, conversations, analysis, and any and all other communications and documentation generated in consideration of Sec. 944 of the FY2018 and FY 2019 budget relating to any and all contemplated prison closures; 2) actions, conversations, analysis, and any and all other communications and documentation in any way considered the economic impacts of closing the Ojibway Correctional Facility on the community of Marenisco, the county of Gogebic, and/or the western Upper Peninsula; 3) actions, conversations, analysis, and any and all other communications and documentation other local impacts on the community of Marenisco, the county of Gogebic, and the western Upper Peninsula that were taken into consideration during this decision making process; 4) and actions, conversations, analysis, and any and all other communications and documentation that in any way considered, discussed or contemplated the economic impacts, as well any other factor, that the Department or the State considered in making a decision on whether to close any prison other than the Ojibway Prison in 2018 or 2019.
"Please note that the documents presented through this release are not an “economic impact study.” No formal study is required to be completed by the department, but the MDOC did fully consider the economic impact. The documents represent the information the department sought out from various state agencies and others, and also information it received from various members of the community before making its decision.
"These documents are not arranged in any specific order, as these are simply the records that a variety of department employees had in their possession or in their emails that were responsive to the FOIA request and are displayed in the order they were processed by the department’s FOIA coordinator.
"This was one of several FOIA requests the department has received regarding the closure of the Ojibway Correctional Facility since it was announced on Aug. 14th.
"In the interest of transparency, the department plans to provide other records that have been requested.
"In addition to the documents released to Mr. McBroom, the department has also released all of the records of correspondences the department received from members of the community in the weeks and months leading up to the decision.
"You can read those documents and letters here: bit.ly/OCF-FOIA-requests."
