Evidence-status definitions
- VERIFIED — read directly from a primary or official public record (an adopted budget, an enrolled statute, a recorded instrument, an agency document), retrieved by the desk. The strongest label the desk issues.
- PARTIALLY VERIFIED — part of the claim rests on a primary record and part on a named secondary source. The split is stated. Example: a project's approval status verified from the city record while its dollar figure remains only reported.
- NEEDS SOURCE PULL — reported by a named outlet or party, plausible, and mapped to the primary record that would settle it — but that record has not yet been retrieved. Reported figures under this label are never summed with verified ones.
- NOT YET DECIDED — the record itself is not final: a vote pending, a docket open, an appraisal underway. The desk reports the clock, not a prediction of the outcome.
- UNAVAILABLE — the settling record is not publicly retrievable (confidential, exempt, not yet produced, or behind an unfulfilled records request). Stated as an open public-record gap, not papered over.
Source rules
- Primary and official records outrank press reports; press reports are cited by name and never silently upgraded.
- Reported dollar figures (acquisition prices, debt, project values) stay labeled "reported" until reconciled against a recorded instrument or audited disclosure.
- Unlike capital classes — acquisition price, debt, permit value, presales, public infrastructure — are never added into one total.
- Public records relied on are archived, and hashed where practical, so a brief can be checked against the record as it stood.
Public / private separation
Public findings run on public records only. Private engagements may add client-supplied documents and confidential context, but that material never enters the public ledger without authorization, and it never changes a public finding — see Conflicts & Independence. Rumors, tips, and unverified leads live on the private watch layer and appear publicly only when a public record verifies them.
Effective 2026-07-17 · Questions and correction requests: Request a Briefing (select the matching inquiry type) or bbaronejr@gmail.com.