Grace Ferguson v. Barnstable County Sheriff's Office (SPR 20220778)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 14, 2022 SPR22/0778 Sheriff James M. Cummings Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office 6000 Sheriff’s Place Bourne, MA 02532 Dear Sheriff Cummings: I have received the petition of Grace Ferguson of WBUR appealing the nonresponse of the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office (Office) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On March 18, 2022, Ms. Ferguson requested “… documents showing the names of sworn officers within the Barnstable County Sheriff who were terminated for misconduct, agreed to resign or retire to resolve misconduct accusations, or resigned or retired with a pending internal affairs investigation since January 1, 2010.” Claiming to not yet have received responsive records, Ms. Ferguson petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/0778, was opened as a result. Despite being notified of the opening of this appeal, it remains unclear whether the Office has provided a response. Accordingly, the Office is ordered to provide Ms. Ferguson with a response to her request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations within ten (10) business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. Ms. Ferguson may appeal the substantive nature of the Office’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Grace Ferguson 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