Joshua Carrier v. Department of Correction - Division of Human Resources (SPR 20180582)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords May 10, 2018 SPR18/582 Ms. Patricia Snow Records Access Officer Department of Correction - Division of Human Resources 1 Industries Drive P.O. Box 946 Norfolk, MA 02056 Dear Ms. Snow: I have received the petition from J.D. Carrier appealing the denial of the access to public records by the Department of Correction (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On February 5, 2018, Mr. Carrier made a public records request to the Department for Information about: the total salary spent at the Old Colony Correctional Center (OCCC) on certain dates; the granted sick, personal, and vacation days of employees at the OCCC on certain dates; and the total number of staff working at the OCCC on certain dates. Mr. Carrier then made an appeal to this office on March 26, 2018 and a determination was provided to him on April 2, 2018. The Department provided Mr. Carrier with a response on April 19, 2018. Mr. Carrier now appeals the Department's response in his April 23, 2018 letter stating the Department is refusing to provide him the requested records. Appeal 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, § 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, § lO(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. 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 ofrecords at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a )(ii), (b )(ii). The Department's response on April 19th stated they cannot produce the records of total salary spent to Mr. Carrier "due to the limitations of the statewide payroll system." The Department also indicated that Gayle Tickel who is the Records Access Officer at the OCCC is the "keeper of records for information about the total number of DOC staff' at the facility. The Department informs Mr. Carrier that he needs to make a public One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre• pre@sec.state.ma.us

Ms. Patricia Snow SPR18/582 Page 2 May 10, 2018 records request with Ms. Tickel at the OCCC for the records he seeks. See G. L. c. 66, § I O(b) (iii). (The duty to comply with requests for records extends to identifying the agency or municipality that may be in possession, custody, or control of the public record sought, if known.) Further, in light of the Department's April 19th response, confirming there are no more responsive records in the Department's possession and informing Mr. Carrier he should contact the OCCC, I find the Department has met its burden in responding to this request. See G. L. c. 66, § I O(b )(ii)(iii). Sincerely, ~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. J.D. Carrier