Eugene L. Palopoli v. Office of the Commissioner of Probation (SPR 20160180)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor of& cords March 23, 2016 SPR16/180 Mr. Edward J. Dolan Office ofthe Commissioner of Probation One Ashburton Place, Room 405 Boston, MA 02108 Dear Commissioner Dolan: I have received the petition of Eugene L. Palopoli appealing the nonresponse of the Office of the Commissioner of Probation (Office) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Palopoli requested a copy of the " [e ] xecuted contract between the Office of Community Corrections and Security Service Specialists, Inc., effective January 1, 2016 [and the same contract] between Office of Community Corrections and Security Service Specialists, Inc. covering January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015." Having received no response, Mr. Palopoli petitioned this office. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten (1 0) days of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b); 950 C.M.R. 32.05. The response may be an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, a member of my staff contacted your office by phone, sent you an acknowledgement letter, and emailed you a copy of the file. With the proviso that Office will provide a written response within ten (1 0) days, whereas this matter was opened based upon the Office's failure to provide a written response, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Mr. Palopoli may appeal the substantive nature ofthe Office's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). To assist in requesting and responding to requests for public records please refer to our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is available on the Internet, free of charge, at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf. Attorneys on my staff are available during regular business hours to answer general questions regarding the Public Records Law. In addition, members of my staff will visit a records custodian in person to OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Mr. Edward J. Dolan SPR16/180 Page 2 March 23, 2016 conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon r quest. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this determinatio for further information. illiams cc: Mr. Eugene L. Palopoli