Benjamin Silva v. Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (SPR 20170913)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofRecords July 19,2017 SPR171913 Shannon Sullivan, Esq. Assistant General Counsel Executive Office of Public Safety and Security 1000 Washington Street Boston, MA 02 1 18 Dear Ms. Sullivan: I have received the petition of Benjamin Silva appealing the response of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 5 10(A); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on May 15,2017 Mr. Silva requested all documents created or received by EOPSS between the years 2000 and 201 6 relating to incidents of sexual nature occurring within the Massachusetts Department of Correction (DOC). EOPSS responded by providing records in a letter dated May 25,2017. Mr. Silva appealed the response indicating he is not satisfied with it. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten business days of receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(a),(b). The response may contain, among other things, an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. EOPSS must confirm whether it possesses any additional responsive records. The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(a)(ii). A staff member of the Public Records Division contacted EOPSS to about this matter. Conclusion Accordingly, EOPSS is hereby ordered to provide Mr. Silva with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations without delay. 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. One Ashburton Place, Room 17 19, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 * (61 7) 727-2832. Fax: (61 7) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre pre@sec.state.ma,us

Shannon Sullivan, Esq. Page 2 July 19,2017 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Benjamin Silva