Colman Herman v. Berkshire District Attorney's Office (SPR 20181124)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records August 10,201 8 SPR18/1124 Joseph A. Pieropan, Esq. Assistant District Attorney- Records Access Officer Berkshire District Attorney's Office PO Box 1969 - 7 North Street Pittsfield, MA 0 1202- 1969 Dear Attorney Pieropan: I have received the petition from Colman Herman appealing the denial of the Berkshire District Attorney Office (DAO) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, 5 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Mr. Herman made a public records request on July 8,2018 to the DAO for "hard copies and electronic copies of any and all communications related to the recent voice-mail message with the office of Berkshire Money Management." The DAO provided Mr. Herman with a response on July 25,201 8. In response to the DAO's 25th email, Mr. Herman appealed to this office on July 27,20 18. Appeal The DAO stated in their July 25the mail "[plursuant to your public records request received by this Office on July 8,2018, I sent to all staff the email copied below. As of 5.00 p.m. today, no staff member has spoken to me regarding this matter. Accordingly, this Office possesses no records responsive to your request." 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. G. L. c. 66, 5 10(a)(ii), (b)(ii). Also, 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. See G. L. c. 66, 5 10(b) (iii). Based on the DAO's July 25thr esponse, it is still unclear if the records Mr. Herman is requesting are currently in possession of the DAO. Accordingly, the DAO is ordered to review the requests made by Mr. Herman and provide any requested records in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order within ten business days. 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.I f unresolved issues remain, Mr. Herman may appeal the substantive nature - 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

Joseph A. Pieropan, Esq. Page 2 August 10,201 8 of the DAO's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray V Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Colman Herman