How requester records are created, and what unverified means

Requester records are made automatically. When a request arrives, the requester record is created with it, and there is no separate step for adding one.

Where records come from

A request filed through your portal creates the request and the requester together. A request that arrives by email does the same. A request taken by phone, by post or at the counter is recorded the same way, and recording it creates the requester record.

There is no way to add a requester who has not filed, and no way to file a request without one existing.

Verified and unverified email addresses

Some addresses in the requester list carry an (unverified) marker, shown beside the address in the Email column. It means nobody has confirmed that the address belongs to the person who gave it.

That matters for two reasons.

Delivery. An unverified address may simply be wrong. If your response and its package link go there, nobody receives them, and the first you learn of it is a complaint or nothing at all.

Identity. An unverified address is a claim rather than a fact. It does not tell you the person is who they say they are, and it should not be treated as identification.

Most public records statutes do not permit an agency to require identification as a condition of filing, so an unverified address is not a reason to refuse a request. It is a reason to be careful about what you send to it and how you describe what you sent.

Anonymous requests

Where your portal allows anonymous filing, requests arrive with the origin Citizen Portal (Anonymous). The requester gives an email address to receive their reference number and tracking link, but nothing more.

An anonymous request is an ordinary request. It carries the same statutory deadlines and follows the same lifecycle, and the fact that you do not know who filed it is not a ground for treating it differently.

What you cannot do is contact them any other way. If a request needs clarification and the email address turns out not to work, you have no second route, and the clock keeps running.

Duplicate records

The same person filing under two email addresses produces two requester records, because the address is what identifies them.

Check the list before assuming a first-time filer. A name you recognize with a total of one may be the same person who has filed six times under another address.