Steven L. Smith v. Department of Mental Health (SPR 20211290)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records June 7, 2021 SPR21/1290 Emily Sullivan Department of Mental Health 25 Staniford Street Boston, MA 02114 Dear Ms. Sullivan: I have received the petition of Steven Smith appealing the nonresponse of the Department of Mental Health (Department) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Smith submitted a request for records relating to a certain set of incident reports. Claiming to not yet have received a response, Mr. Smith petitioned this office and this appeal was opened as a result. Subsequent to the intervention by a staff member of the Public Records Division, I learned that a representative from the Department intends on providing written a response to Mr. Smith. Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Smith with a response made in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order within 10 business days. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of the response to this to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Mr. Smith may appeal the substantive nature of the Department’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Steven Smith Debra Leggett, Esq., Department of Mental Health 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