William McDonagh v. Department of Correction - Legal Division (SPR 20190032)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 22, 2019 SPR19/0032 Kate M. Silvia Department of Correction 50 Maple Street, Suite 3 Milford, MA 01757 Dear Ms. Silvia: I have received the petition of William McDonagh appealing the nonresponse of the Department of Correction (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1 OA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. McDonagh requested documents pertaining to prisons in the Massachusetts Department of Correction. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within 10 business days of receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 1 O(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. I understand that on January 11, 2019 the Department informed this office that "[t]his request was never received by the Department. I will forward to the appropriate personnel." However, as of the date of this letter, it is unclear whether the Department has provided Mr. McDonagh a response to his request for records. Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. McDonagh 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. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: William McDonagh 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