Donald Williams v. Executive Office of Public Safety and Security - Department of Correction (SPR 20160613)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords August 18, 2016 SPR16/613 Mr. Stephen Embry Department of Corrections Office of Investigations 50 Maple Street, Suite 1 Milford, MA 01757 Dear Mr. Embry: I have received the petition of Donald Williams appealing the nonresponse of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections-Office of Investigations (Office) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, on July 1, 2016, Mr. Williams requested copies of subpoenas issued by the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office to a specifically identified Department of Correction employee to disclose all phone calls made by any inmate for a specific time frame and specifically identified phone numbers. Despite our letter to the Office dated August 12, 2016 acknowledging the opening of this appeal and a communication from a member of my staff, no response has been provided. The Public Records Law Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten (10) 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. 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 conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon request. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this determination for further information. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Mr. Stephen Embry SPR16/613 Page 2 August 18, 2016 Order I find the Office has failed to respond to a request for public records. Accordingly, the Office is hereby ordered to provide Mr. Williams with a response to the request, prepared in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Donald Williams Chief Patrick DePalo