Todd Wallack v. Bristol County District Attorney's Office (SPR 20231371)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records July 5, 2023 SPR23/1371 Courtney Almeida, Esq. Assistant District Attorney Records Access Officer Bristol County District Attorney’s Office 888 Purchase Street New Bedford, MA 02740 Dear Attorney Almeida: I have received the petition of Todd Wallack, of WBUR, appealing the response of the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office (Office) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On January 24, 2023, Mr. Wallack requested “[a]n electronic list of cases the district attorney’s office has prosecuted since Jan. 1, 2022, including all publicly available columns/fields.” On April 18, 2023, Mr. Wallack modified his request to “an electronic list of all the cases the district attorney’s office has prosecuted since Jan. 1, 2010, including all publicly available columns/fields (not just cases since 2022).” Prior Appeals The requested records were the subject of prior appeals. See SPR23/0400 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (March 15, 2023) and SPR23/1115 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (May 31, 2023). In my May 31st determination, I found that the Office needed to clarify if it had any additional responsive records. On June 14, 2023, the Office responded. Unsatisfied with the Office’s response, Mr. Wallack petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR23/1371, was opened as a result. The Office’s June 14th response In its June 14, 2023 response, the Office stated the following: On May 26, 2023, our office responded to this inquiry by stating that our office had previously provided you with records responsive to your current request as well as the updated data pursuant to your most recent request and that our office had complied with your most recent request. The records provided to you on May 2, 2023, include an update 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

Courtney Almeida, Esq. SPR23/1377 Page 2 July 5, 2023 from January 2022 to the present as you had requested. This office has no other further responsive records and has complied with your request. Current Appeal In his current appeal, Mr. Wallack indicated that the Office has not provided all responsive records. Please note that 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. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(ii). Further, in accordance with the Public Records Law, custodians are expected to use their superior knowledge of the records in their custody to assist requestors in obtaining the desired information. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5). In a telephone conversation with this office on June 28, 2023, a representative for the Office confirmed that the Office provided the requestor with all the responsive records in previous public records requests. Conclusion Where the Office has confirmed that it does not possess additional records responsive to Mr. Wallack’s request, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Todd Wallack