Contracts between Nantucket County Sheriff's Department and other Agencies regarding Title IV-D

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:

All contracts, memorandums of understanding, other arrangements/agreements (including 45 CFR § 302.34 "cooperative arrangements") [collectively referred to as "All-Contracts"]
between The Nantucket County Sheriff's Department (and/or any specific employee of the department):
1. And other State Agencies regarding the Title IV-D Program or Title IV-D Services;
2. And other Federal Agencies regarding the Title IV-D Program or Title IV-D Services;
3. And any other entity or Agency [such as "The Social Security Administration"] regarding the Title IV-D Program or Title IV-D Services.

* Please note that Title IV-D is often referred to as "child support".
* Please include the All-Contracts containing previous Nantucket County Sheriff Richard Bretschneider.
* Please include the All-Contracts containing current Nantucket County Sheriff James A. Perelman.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Josh Coffin

Good afternoon Sandra,

There is still confusion in your 2/16/2021 response to my initial public records request ("PRR") dated 2/14/2021. I'm not sure if you are aware, but the "State of Massachusetts" you request I speak to is an extremely large entity as evidenced by the enormous list of its "organizations" listed here: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-state-organizations-a-to-z

So that we are on the same page, please refer to this "Initial Response Flow Chart" regarding MA public records requests. Here is the direct link from the Secretary of the Commonwealth's Public Records Division: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/10-Day-Response-Flow-Chart-2018.pdf

In reference to the above Flow Chart, your response dated 2/16/2021 was the "Confirm receipt of request in 10 business days" step.

In reference to the above Flow Chart, this PRR is on the "In possession of all records?" step.

Can you please evaluate the Flow Chart and determine your response? Again, in reference to the above Flow Chart, if it is No, then please respond with:
1. Identify records you do not have;
2. Provide identity of entity that may have records; and
3. Inform of right to appeal;

If it is Yes, then please determine if they are Public Records as per the referenced Flow Chart. Then please deliver them to me.

Also, do you have a time frame for providing the initially requested information?

Thank you for your time,

Josh Coffin

Good afternoon Sandra,

Please be aware that there are TWO (2) different public records requests ("PRR") which I have open with the Nantucket Sheriff's Department. Below, I will again send the same exact message I sent to you on Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Since your response regarding this request has yet to be received, can you please respond?

There is still confusion in your 2/16/2021 response to my initial public records request ("PRR") dated 2/14/2021. I'm not sure if you are aware, but the "State of Massachusetts" you request I speak to is an extremely large entity as evidenced by the enormous list of its "organizations" listed here: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-state-organizations-a-to-z

So that we are on the same page, please refer to this "Initial Response Flow Chart" regarding MA public records requests. Here is the direct link from the Secretary of the Commonwealth's Public Records Division: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/10-Day-Response-Flow-Chart-2018.pdf

In reference to the above Flow Chart, your response dated 2/16/2021 was the "Confirm receipt of request in 10 business days" step.

In reference to the above Flow Chart, this PRR is on the "In possession of all records?" step.

Can you please evaluate the Flow Chart and determine your response? Again, in reference to the above Flow Chart, if it is No, then please respond with:
1. Identify records you do not have;
2. Provide identity of entity that may have records; and
3. Inform of right to appeal;

If it is Yes, then please determine if they are Public Records as per the referenced Flow Chart. Then please deliver them to me.

Also, do you have a time frame for providing the initially requested information?

Thank you for your time,

Josh Coffin

Good afternoon Sandra,

I greatly appreciate your response to this and your assistance with this request.

I also appreciate your assistance on the other PRR, which was responded to by Brenda Garnett recently.

There was some confusion regarding response, so I wanted to clarify and remind you.

Thank you again for your time,

Josh Coffin

Good afternoon Sandra,

I appreciate your response. It appears that there's still some confusion regarding my initial request dated 2/14/2021, so I will attempt to clarify.

If we first look at code 45 CFR § 302.34 (called "Cooperative arrangements"), we see that the State is required to enter into agreements "which are reflected in a record" (i.e. in writing) with "law enforcement officials" regarding Title IV-D Services, which includes the NSD. For your reference, the "Requirements for cooperative arrangements" are codified at 45 CFR § 302.107.

Before the current health situation, the NSD participated in Title IV-D Services as follows (but not just limited to), which would be continuing today if not for the current health situation:

1. NSD employees were physically stationed in the Nantucket Family and Probate Court ("NFPC") during "IV-D Administrative Hearings". These NSD employees were getting paid (from somewhere) to do this...

2. NSD employees would detain Title IV-D participants when given orders to do so from a 45 CFR 75.2 "Title IV-D Contractor", known on the island as the NFPC "First Justice". These NSD employees were getting paid (from somewhere) to do this...

3. NSD employees delivered non-legal documents known as Title IV-D "Capias Warrants" (on behalf of NFPC) under the facade that they were "legal threats" against persons from a real court, when it is a non-legal document pretending to be a threat from a Title IV-D Contractor - again, NSD participating in Title IV-D as they delivered it. These NSD employees were getting paid (from somewhere) to do this...

4. NSD employees possibly arresting, detaining, and "summoning" persons to participate in "IV-D Administrative Hearings". These NSD employees were getting paid (from somewhere) to do this...

5. NSD employees possibly arresting, detaining, and holding persons participating in "IV-D Administrative Hearings". These NSD employees were getting paid (from somewhere) to do this...

Hopefully it is clear how the NSD is participating in Title IV-D Services. I'm sure we could both come up with many more situations in which the NSD is participating in Title IV-D Services, but that is not what this public records request is for. I hope this response adds the clarification you need as to what I am seeking. *** Also please refer to the attached ISA to see that Title IV-D services are actually contracted. ***

Again, this public records request, originally sent on 2/14/2021, was for the following:

All contracts, memorandums of understanding, other arrangements/agreements (including 45 CFR § 302.34 "cooperative arrangements") [collectively referred to as "All-Contracts"]
between The Nantucket County Sheriff's Department (and/or any specific employee of the department):
1. And other State Agencies regarding the Title IV-D Program or Title IV-D Services;
2. And other Federal Agencies regarding the Title IV-D Program or Title IV-D Services;
3. And any other entity or Agency [such as "The Social Security Administration"] regarding the Title IV-D Program or Title IV-D Services.

* Please note that Title IV-D is often referred to as "child support".
* Please include the All-Contracts containing previous Nantucket County Sheriff Richard Bretschneider.
* Please include the All-Contracts containing current Nantucket County Sheriff James A. Perelman.

Thank you again for your all of your help - Josh

Good morning Sandra,

As your last response was sent on 4/2/2021 for this initial public records request dated 2/14/2021, it is not clear if you have any of the documents requested as a response has yet to be received after further clarification was sent to you on 4/15/2021. It is interesting that I have never made any mention of anything related to any "Correctional Facility/Jail", so it is not clear why your response mentions this at all, so thank you for informing me? So that we are on the same page, please refer to this "Initial Response Flow Chart" regarding MA public records requests. Here is the direct link from the Secretary of the Commonwealth's Public Records Division: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/10-Day-Response-Flow-Chart-2018.pdf

After reviewing the clarification dated 4/15/2021, can you please let me know if you are or are not in possession of all the requested records. Please respond (as per the above Flow Chart) with the following which I will need to acquire these records:
1. Identify records you do not have;
2. Provide identity of entity that may have records; and
3. Inform of right to appeal (i.e. who is the appeals officer for MA public records requests received by the NSD?)

Thank you again for your time,

Josh Coffin

Good morning Sandra,

In your 4/23/2021 response, you provided me the NSD Appeals Officer's name of "Brenda Garnett". Unfortunately, you did not provide their contact information. Can you please provide me with the e-mail & contact information for the NSD Appeals Officer Brenda Garnett? I am not able to appeal without her contact information.

In your 4/23/2021 response, you attached a 40-page document. I do greatly appreciate that you have shared this information with me, but can you please clarify what this document is as it is not clear from reading it as to what it is Titled?

In your 4/23/2021 response, you attached a 40-page document. On Page 32 of this 40-page "No Name document", there is a letter dated Feb 18, 2016. If you read this letter, you will see that NSD is a Title IV-D VENDOR ("contractor") with a VENDOR AGREEMENT ("contract") which needs to be renewed every three (3) years. These VENDOR AGREEMENTS (including when Bretschneider was the Nantucket Sheriff) would be included within my request originally dated 2/14/2021 as it is a form of a contract. Again, this are NOT NORMAL services performed by the NSD as a MA Sheriff's Department & it is purely contractual. The NSD would not participate in these activities if not for this special Title IV-D "Vendor" contract.

In your 4/23/2021 response, you attached a 40-page document. This 40-page "No Name document" is very contractual as we see that if NSD FAILS to abide by the terms, then they are FIRED. Do not take this as a negative comment (because it is not, but could easily be misinterpreted), but are you familiar with how contracts work?

In your 4/23/2021 response, you attached a 40-page document. On Page 5 of this 40-page "No Name document", we see that the NSD (as a DOR Vendor/Contractor) is required to "apprehend or arrange for the surrender of the named defendant", which is a part of the NSD's Title IV-D "Vendor Application", "Vendor Contract", or whatever fancy word(s) is/are a deceptive synonym being used for contract here. This is proof that #4 and #5 on "page 2 of my email from April 15, 2021" are both contractual acts of the NSD. The NSD would not participate in these activities if not for this special Title IV-D "Vendor" contract.

In your 4/23/2021 response, you attached a 40-page document. On Page 15 of this 40-page "No Name document", we see that the NSD is "compensated" with a "Capias Surrender" fee. This does not occur if a regular person of the population paid NSD to act as the role of a process server, so this is clearly not the same type of service that the NSD is providing in their participation of the Title IV-D Program. The NSD would not participate in these activities if not for this special Title IV-D "Vendor" contract.

In your 4/23/2021 response, you attached a 40-page document. On Page 34 of this 40-page "No Name document", we see that NSD is a "Vendor" (contractor) for Title IV-D Services. The NSD would not participate in these activities if not for this special Title IV-D "Vendor" contract.

It appears that there still might be confusion by the NSD as to the understanding of contracts. In your 4/23/2021 response, you attached a 40-page document. This 40-page "No Name document" is actual PROOF that a Title IV-D (Vendor) contract exists between the MA DOR and NSD.

Thank you again for your time,

Josh Coffin

Hi Brenda,

While I appreciate the blank forms I did not ask for, please be aware that this is not what the original request is/was asking for. Since you are supplying me blank forms when I have requested "filled out" forms by the NSD, then it is very clear that there is confusion on your end, so I urge you to please re-read the original request dated 2/14/2021 [3 months ago] to alleviate any and all of that confusion.

On 2/14/2021, when my original request was made, I did NOT ask for any "Vendor Application" by that specific name as at that time the "Vendor" terminology and information were not known to me. I was unaware of the term, but my original request still did request "other arrangements/agreements", which would include this special term "Vendor Application". Again, please refer to the original [dated 2/14/2021] as to what I am seeking to alleviate any confusion on your end.

On 2/14/201, my original request asked for:
All contracts, memorandums of understanding, other arrangements/agreements (including 45 CFR § 302.34 "cooperative arrangements") [collectively referred to as "All-Contracts"]
between The Nantucket County Sheriff's Department (and/or any specific employee of the department):
1. And other State Agencies regarding the Title IV-D Program or Title IV-D Services;
2. And other Federal Agencies regarding the Title IV-D Program or Title IV-D Services;
3. And any other entity or Agency [such as "The Social Security Administration"] regarding the Title IV-D Program or Title IV-D Services.
* Please note that Title IV-D is often referred to as "child support".
* Please include the All-Contracts containing previous Nantucket County Sheriff Richard Bretschneider.
* Please include the All-Contracts containing current Nantucket County Sheriff James A. Perelman.

On 4/23/2021, Sandra's response thankfully provided this NEW information that indeed the NSD is contracting to participate in Title IV-D Services ("Child Support") but under a different terminology. NSD is participating in Title IV-D by acting as a MA DOR CSE "Vendor" who has to fill out a "Vendor Application" every 3 (three) years to participate in the Title IV-D program. This new terminology of a "Vendor Application" is included in my original 2/14/2021 request as part of the term "other arrangements/agreements". Again, please refer to above or the original [dated 2/14/2021] as to what I am seeking to alleviate any confusion on your end.

On 5/13/2021, your response thankfully acknowledged that the NSD "completed these [Vendor Applications] every 3 years per instructions of Department of Revenue, child support". Unfortunately, your response included BLANK forms, which are not very helpful if you read the original request from 3 months ago. Please re-read the original request [dated 2/14/2021] to alleviate any confusion on your end.

Again, to make it very clear, I am seeking "filled out" forms by the NSD which I requested 3 months ago, on 2/14/2021, as "other arrangements/agreements" which the NSD has the special name of "Vendor Application" for their participation in Title IV-D Services with MA DOR CSE. Please provide ALL of these NSD "Vendor Applications" (as these are considered "other arrangements/agreements" under the original request dated 2/14/2021) during the time periods of (A) when Nantucket County Sheriff Richard Bretschneider was in office; and (B) the current Nantucket County Sheriff James A. Perelman [January 1, 2011 to the present].

Please let me know if there is still any confusion on your end. It is clear to anyone that there is some confusion over there as you are the NSD RAO Appeals Officer, but you provided blank forms instead of providing what is being asked for in the original request from 2/14/2021. Can you please re-read the original request to alleviate your confusion? Also, what is the time frame for that as this request was initially filed 3 months ago without the receipt of any responsive documents?

Thank you again for your time,

Josh Coffin

Hi Brenda,

No response has been received from you since May 13, 2021 & this response did not contain any of the documents being asked for in the original request dated 2/14/2021, but instead you only included blank documents which were never asked for in the original request.

On May 14, 2021, I responded to you informing you of all of this information (please review that response). My response also informed you, as NSD RAO Appeals Officer, that you need to re-read the original request dated 2/14/2021 as you sent blank documents when no blank documents were requested. Over this past week, I hope you were able to re-read the original request dated 2/14/2021 to alleviate any and all confusion on your end.

Please let me know if there is still any confusion on your end and if I can clarify anything for you. It is very clear to anyone that there is some confusion as the original request dated 2/14/2021 was NOT asking for any form of any blank document(s), yet that is what you sent me... Also, what is the time frame for that as this request was initially filed 3 months ago without the receipt of any responsive documents?

Thank you again for your time,

Josh Coffin

Hi Brenda,

No response has been received from you since May 13, 2021 and we are now in the month of June. Your last response did not contain any of the documents being asked for in the original request dated 2/14/2021 & instead you sent blank documents which were never asked for in the original request. On May 14, 2021, I responded to you informing you of all of this information (please review that response again). The May 14, 2021 response also informed you, as the NSD RAO Appeals Officer, that you need to re-read the original request dated 2/14/2021 as you sent blank documents when no blank documents were ever requested.

It has now been a month without any response from you. Furthermore, this Public Records Request has not been logged on the MA Secretary of State's (MA SOS) website, which is located here: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/requestsearchweb/webpages/welcome.aspx. If you follow that weblink, you will see the following verbatim: "Agencies are required to document the details of any request made for a Public Record. You can use this website to search for those detail records. If you have questions regarding a specific public records request made to an agency, are unable to locate a detail record, please contact the agency to which the request was orignally addressed."

Please let me know if there is still any confusion on your end and if I can clarify anything for you. It is not clear as to why you have not responded. Again, to reiterate, you sent blank forms when nothing like that was ever requested. Please respond with the requested documents and what is the time frame for the the receipt of those?

Thank you again for your time,

Josh Coffin

Hi Brenda,

It is now June & I'm still waiting for the responsive documents requested in my original requested dated 2/14/2021. Since you are the NSD RAO Appeals Officer, and you are NOT being responsive, then here is again what was originally being sought after:

All contracts, memorandums of understanding, other arrangements/agreements (including 45 CFR § 302.34 "cooperative arrangements") [collectively referred to as "All-Contracts"]
between The Nantucket County Sheriff's Department (and/or any specific employee of the department):
1. And other State Agencies regarding the Title IV-D Program or Title IV-D Services;
2. And other Federal Agencies regarding the Title IV-D Program or Title IV-D Services;
3. And any other entity or Agency [such as "The Social Security Administration"] regarding the Title IV-D Program or Title IV-D Services.
* Please note that Title IV-D is often referred to as "child support".
* Please include the All-Contracts containing previous Nantucket County Sheriff Richard Bretschneider.
* Please include the All-Contracts containing current Nantucket County Sheriff James A. Perelman.

Again, it's June 2021 now and this request is from 2/14/2021, so I need you to respond with what is being requested and/or provide the ETA for acquiring this information. The "blank forms" you sent on 5/13/2021 are required to be filled out by every employee of the Nantucket Sheriff's Department which is participating in these services, as we see in the attached Handbook on page 5 [source #1]. In your last response dated 5/13/2021, you stated verbatim that: "We have completed these every 3 years per instructions of Department of Revenue, child support." This request is to acquire all of those filled out (again, NOT blank) forms by these employees [for each 3 year period], including previous Nantucket County Sheriff Richard Bretschneider and current Nantucket County Sheriff James A. Perelman. We see from the attached file called "Nantucket 2.pdf" that certain employees filled out these forms recently, which includes you Brenda A. Garnett.

Please let me know if there is still any confusion on your end and if I can clarify anything for you. It is not clear as to why you have not responded. Again, to reiterate, you sent blank forms when nothing like that was ever requested. Please respond with the requested documents and what is the time frame for the the receipt of those?

Thank you again for your time,

Josh Coffin

---------------
[source #1]
Page 5, or #15 under "Standards of Conduct", of the November 2019 Handbook (attached) states verbatim:
"Each licensed Constable or Sheriff shall submit to DOR a completed application for each employee, agent or associate who may be involved in service of process for DOR before using the services of such employee, agent or associate. Applications should be sent to DOR staff at cseserviceprocess@dor.state.ma.us. DOR will review each employee, agent or associate individually to determine if he or she is appropriate for inclusion on DOR’s list of authorized process servers. DOR will not compensate for services provided by any employee, agent or associate who has not signed a Confidentiality Agreement or passed all DOR-required tax, child support and criminal history background checks."

Brenda,

No response has been received from you since May 13, 2021 and we are now in the month of July. It is not clear as to why you have not responded, as this is part of your job as the NSD RAO Appeals Officer.

On May 13, 2021 you stated verbatim: "We have completed these every 3 years per instructions of Department of Revenue, child support." On May 13, 2021, you supplied me blank forms when I had asked for filled out forms for all of the NSD employees participating. To help clarify what is being requested, please see the attachments, which are actual filled out forms for NSD employees. My original requested dated 2/14/2021 is seeking all of these filled out forms, including when the previous Nantucket County Sheriff Richard Bretschneider was in office.

Again, just so we are on the same page, the original request dated 2/14/2021 requested the following:
All contracts, memorandums of understanding, other arrangements/agreements (including 45 CFR § 302.34 "cooperative arrangements") [collectively referred to as "All-Contracts"]
between The Nantucket County Sheriff's Department (and/or any specific employee of the department):
1. And other State Agencies regarding the Title IV-D Program or Title IV-D Services;
2. And other Federal Agencies regarding the Title IV-D Program or Title IV-D Services;
3. And any other entity or Agency [such as "The Social Security Administration"] regarding the Title IV-D Program or Title IV-D Services.
* Please note that Title IV-D is often referred to as "child support".
* Please include the All-Contracts containing previous Nantucket County Sheriff Richard Bretschneider.
* Please include the All-Contracts containing current Nantucket County Sheriff James A. Perelman.

Please let me know if there is still any confusion on your end and if I can clarify anything for you, but I believe the attachments are very helpful to clarify what is being requested. Please respond with the requested documents and what is the time frame for the the receipt of those?

Thank you again for your time,

Josh Coffin

Dear James A. Perelman,

I greatly appreciate your response dated 7/28/2021, as your staff continues to be un-responsive. The last response from your staff was on May 13th, 2021 and it did not fulfill the original request. I have sent follow-ups to your staff (with relevant attachments) on the following dates without ever hearing any form of a response back from your staff: May 14, 2021; May 24, 2021; June 8, 2021; June 10, 2021; June 14, 2021; June 29, 2021; July 6, 2021; and July 21, 2021.

Are you familiar with the concept of "Redaction"? "Redaction" is the process when a record contains sensitive information (such as a Social Security Number) but that the sensitive information is first "Redacted" [or withheld under M.G.L. c. 4 § 7, cl. 26(c)] before the requested record is publicly shared thru a Public Records Request. Please refer to the attachment named "Nantucket_Applications_LpiUs4a.pdf" so that yourself, your staff, and the Public can all see examples of "Redaction".

The expectation of your staff is to provide the records which I have requested, as is the expectation of any Public Records Request. This should not be a difficult task and should not take almost six (6) months to acquire the records which I have requested. Please let me know if there is still any confusion on your end and if I can clarify anything for you, but I believe the attachments are very helpful to clarify what is being requested.

Please respond with the originally requested documents. Also, what is the ETA for the the receipt of those originally requested records?

Sincerely,

Josh Coffin

October 27, 2021
Re: Refusal of Massachusetts Agency known as the Nantucket Sheriff's Department to furnish the Public Records requested after continued correspondence

To the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (MA) Supervisor of Records (SPR) Office,

I write to appeal the non-response of the Nantucket Sheriff's Department (or “Sheriff”) to my request of February 14, 2021, which was renewed repeatedly, most recently on October 13, 2021.

I will attach the Sheriff’s last response for your office’s review, which was on July 28, 2021, making this appeal still under the required 90 days to appeal. Their response claimed that they could not fulfill my MA Public Records Request “for a variety of reasons” while stating that they’re “obligated to keep... certain information [confidential], such as Social Security numbers, [etc.]”, but then their response confusingly ends with the following verbatim:

“However, we would be pleased to work with you to determine if whatever information you are seeking can be supplied, possibly in a different format or by extensive redaction of one or more of the documents you have been requesting.”

Please keep in mind that after much confusion on the Sheriff's end of this request, that on July 6, 2021, I attached and sent to them a redacted copy of the actual Nantucket Sheriff’s Department’s employees’ 2019 “Vendor Application” forms all filled out to alleviate any confusion of what I was asking them to send to me. This “Vendor Application” has been attached for your office’s review.

On the same day, July 28, 2021, I responded back. In my response,
• (#1) I defined the term “redaction” as “the process when a record contains sensitive information (such as a Social Security Number) but that the sensitive information is first ‘Redacted’ [or withheld under M.G.L. c. 4 § 7, cl. 26(c)] before the requested record is publicly shared thru a Public Records Request”
• (#2) I attach the same Redacted examples which were previously sent to the Sheriff on July 6, 2021, or 22 days prior. ( Did they not read it? )
• (#3) This response asked them to do their necessary redaction process and to provide what was requested.

The records I originally requested on February 14, 2021 from the Sheriff were:
• All contracts, memorandums of understanding, other arrangements/agreements (including 45 CFR § 302.34 "cooperative arrangements") [collectively referred to as "All-Contracts"] between The Nantucket County Sheriff's Department (and/or any specific employee of the department):
1. And other State Agencies regarding the Title IV-D Program or Title IV-D Services;
2. And other Federal Agencies regarding the Title IV-D Program or Title IV-D Services;
3. And any other entity or Agency [such as "The Social Security Administration"] regarding the Title IV-D Program or Title IV-D Services.
• * Please include the All-Contracts containing previous Nantucket County Sheriff Richard Bretschneider.
• * Please include the All-Contracts containing current Nantucket County Sheriff James A. Perelman.

Also I would the MA SPR to take note that my original request included the term “other arrangements/agreements” as the “fancy term” was not yet known for how the Sheriff participated in the Title IV-D Program. Thru the correspondence of this request, the correct “other arrangement/agreement” term called a “Vendor Application” was uncovered as the written instrument for a MA Sheriffs Department employee to be able to provide Title IV-D Services.

Over the past 8 months, I want your office to be aware of the correspondence metrics:

Year - Month | Times Sheriff sent correspondence | Times I sent correspondence
2021 - Feb | 1 * | 1
2021 - Mar | 0 | 1
2021 - Apr | 2 | 2
2021 - May | 1 | 3
2021 - June | 0 | 3
2021 - July | 1 | 3
2021 - Aug | 0 | 2
2021 - Sept | 0 | 2
2021 - Oct | 0 | 2

* The Sheriff’s initial response was to contact the whole State of Massachusetts, which for forty-two (42) days I attempted to do by contacting different agencies. I had to re-contact the Sheriff about this request as none of the numerous State Agencies I’d contacted had any of those records.

I hope this Appeal to the MA SPR contains everything required to help you help me acquire the correct responsive documents to fulfill this request.

I’d like to end on the following appropriate Legal Maxim for our Sheriff:
“Actus non reum facit nisi mens sit rea.” which is translated to
“An act does not make a person guilty unless his mind (or intention) is guilty.”

Sincerely,

Josh Coffin

Good afternoon Benjamin,

The most recent correspondence dated Oct 13th, 2021 was a minimal reminder communication & it has been attached for your office's review. This same minimal reminder communication was sent to the Nantucket Sheriff's Department ("NSD") twice during the months of August 2021 and September 2021 for a total of four times without any responsiveness from the NSD.

I would like your office to please focus more upon the 7/28/2021 response from myself to the NSD. This has been attached for your office's review, as this was the last non-reminder response sent to the NSD.

Very Respectfully,
Josh

Re: Appealing Substantive Nature of SPR21/2853

Good afternoon,

Thank you for providing me with the steps to further appeal. I did receive a partial response from the Nantucket County Sheriff's Office (Office) on November 23rd, 2021, so I would first like to thank the Office for the partial records they provided, but unfortunately, it was a partial response and therefore I am writing to appeal the substantive nature of it.

The Office's recent 11/23/21 response contained only a 37 page pdf file. Inside it was an email communication (attached) from the DOR Agency outlining the "recertification" requirements. It contains a list of required records the Office's employees must fill out to continue participating in that particular program. After cross-checking the Office's 37 page pdf response against the list in the email, I have found that it I am still missing the following from this requested "data set":

1. Employee Brenda A. Garnett's "Criminal History Systems Board (CORI) form"; and
2. Employee Richard Harrington's "Criminal History Systems Board (CORI) form"

Also, my original request to the Office asked "Please include the All-Contracts [also known as all of the records listed in the attached email communication] containing previous Nantucket County Sheriff Richard Bretschneider". The time period would be before January 1, 2011, as this is when the now current Nantucket Sheriff was sworn-in.

3. Currently I am missing this requested set of records for Richard Bretschneider and his pre-2011 staff. To help in the process, please find attached a spreadsheet showing all members of Bretschneider's staff during the years of 2004 thru 2009.

The attached email communication reinforces and provides evidence that these records need to be signed every three years by the Office for their continued participation in that particular program. The Office's recent response only contained records signed by the current staff, dated in 2019 (with the exception of the missing #1 and #2 as noted above) & these particular records only apply to the years of 2020 thru 2022. From this information alone, we are able to mathematically determine that Bretschneider and his then staff submitted these records at least during the years of 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009.

As summary, I am missing #1, #2, and #3 as noted above. Please let me know if there is any other information required from me to help with this appeal.

Very Respectfully,
Josh

Good afternoon,

There is confusion on my end regarding SPR21/3104, which I need the MA SPR to clarify.

On December 8, 2021, a partial response was received from the Nantucket County Sheriff's Office (Office), which was also dated December 7, 2021. In this response, the Office stated verbatim:
"CORI Acknowledgement forms signed by the Sheriff and two NCSO staff members (one of whom is Brenda Garnett). We do not have one signed by Richard Harrington. A DOR staff member is assisting our office with Mr. Harrington's." This Office put in writing that it still has yet to provide the requested record signed by employee Richard Harrington.

Then on December 8, 2021, I received a letter from the MA SPR that the SPR21/3104 appeal was now "closed". Now here comes the confusion on my end --> the fact that the Office specifically stated in their 12/7/2021 communication that they need to still aquire requested records to provide them to me. If SPR21/3104 is as of today "closed", then how does the Office still provide the missing requested record to me? Can the MA SPR please help clarify this confusion?

Very Respectfully,
Josh

Good afternoon,

It has been a month since anything has been heard back from this Agency regarding the missing records which were requested. Can you please respond with a status update?

Thank you - Josh

Good afternoon,

I believe I need another appeal of the 2nd appeal.
I am honestly confused. On 12/8/21 I wrote to the MA SPR asking them to help clarify how the remaining missing records would be acquiried, but have not received a response regarding that yet. This communication is attached for your office's review. I will try my best to explain the timeline so far in order for us to both help each other.

This MA Public Records Request was first appealed as SPR21/2853.
On 11/23/21, that appeal outcome yielded only a partial set of records from the Nantucket County Sheriff's Department (NCSD).

On 11/27/21, I opened a 2nd appeal because the response to SPR21/2853 was still missing the following requested records:
#1. Employee Brenda A. Garnett's "Criminal History Systems Board (CORI) form"; and
#2. Employee Richard Harrington's "Criminal History Systems Board (CORI) form"

On 11/29/21, this 2nd appeal became known as SPR21-3104 upon receipt by your office.

On 12/7/21, the NCSD responded. The letter is attached for your office's review.
In this letter, the NCSD stated "CORI Acknowledgement forms signed by the Sheriff and two NCSO staff members (one of whom is Brenda Garnett). We do not have one signed by Richard Harrington. A DOR staff member is assisting our office with Mr. Harrington's."
At this point in time, the response was still only partial as only #1 was received, while #2 was still missing. The NCSD let both the MA SPR and myself know they were still working on acquiring the #2 in this latest response from them.

On 12/8/21, the MA SPR responded and stated "administrative appeal closed". This response is attached and it is very confusing. If the NCSD was still in the process of gathering records, as they stated in their 12/7/21 response, then why would the appeal be closed?

On 12/8/21, I responded back to the MA SPR asking for clarification of how I would acquire the still missing records, but I never received a response to clarify the confusion. I have attached this for your office's review.

If the process is to appeal this request again in order to acquire the remaining missing records, then can you please open a new appeal based on SPR21-3104 & SPR21/2853?
If this is not the process, then can you please let me know the next step to acquire the remaining missing records?

Very Respectfully,
Josh

Good afternoon,

Please process a fourth (4th) appeal for "substantive nature" regarding this still not yet completed public records request (PRR) with the Agency known as the Nantucket County Sheriff's Department's (NCSD). Also, the recent 1/26/2022 response by the NCSD appears to be missing pages and/or other information, which will be expanded upon at the end of this appeal.

This MA Public Records Request was first appealed as SPR21/2853.
On 11/23/2021, that appeal outcome yielded only a partial set of records from the Nantucket County Sheriff's Department (NCSD).

On 11/27/2021, a 2nd appeal was opened because the response to SPR21/2853 was still missing the following requested records:
#1. Employee Brenda A. Garnett's "Criminal History Systems Board (CORI) form"; and
#2. Employee Richard Harrington's "Criminal History Systems Board (CORI) form"

On 11/29/2021, this 2nd appeal became known as SPR21-3104 upon receipt by your office.

On 12/7/2021, the NCSD responded. In their letter, and in their own words, the NCSD stated verbatim:
"CORI Acknowledgement forms signed by the Sheriff and two NCSO staff members (one of whom is Brenda Garnett).
We do not have one signed by Richard Harrington. A DOR staff member is assisting our office with Mr. Harrington's."

As of 12/7/2021, this records request was still missing #2. Employee Richard Harrington's "Criminal History Systems Board (CORI) form", which the NCSD claimed it would be able to provide. It was then that the NCSD let both the MA SPR and myself know they were still working on acquiring this missing record in their 12/7/2021 response.

On 1/10/2022, a third appeal was opened for this partial PPR. Again, this PPR is still missing "#2. Employee Richard Harrington's "Criminal History Systems Board (CORI) form", which was promised from the NCSD in their 12/7/2021 response.

On 1/11/2022, this 3rd appeal became known as SPR22/0058 upon receipt by your office.

On 1/26/2022, an extremely partial response was received from the NCSD.
This response:
A) Failed to provide "#2. Employee Richard Harrington's "Criminal History Systems Board (CORI) form" as promised from the 12/7/2021 NCSD response
B) Appears to be possibly missing pages;
C) Was not signed by anyone at the NCSD, so it is not clear who this is from;
D) Contained nothing of relevance;

It is not clear why the NCSD has correctly redacted other records in the past, but now since it's a "New Year" they all of a sudden have forgotten how to correctly do that.

On 1/26/2022, the MA SPR closed the 3rd appeal as "administrative appeal closed".

On 1/27/2022, this 4th appeal is being opened with the MA SPR as issues remain unresolved and this PRR has yet to be completed.

Very Respectfully,
Josh

RE: SPR22-0188

Dear MA SPR,

Please find attached the "alleged" response from the Nantucket County Sheriff's Department's (NCSD) dated January 26, 2022.

I say "alleged" as your Office will be able to see in this attachment that it has no signature from anyone at all and therefore possibly appears to be missing pages.
For that simple fact, I question whether or not this originated from the NCSD or not.

I had forgotten to attach this with my 4th appeal of "substantive nature" request to your Office. Thank you again for your time.

Very Respectfully,
Josh

RE: SPR22-0188

Good afternoon MA SPR,

As of today, January 31, 2022, this public records request (PRR) has still not been completed by the Nantucket County Sheriff's Department (NCSD). Again, I'm not sure why the NCSD has correctly redacted other records during 2021, but now since it's a "New Year" they all of a sudden have forgotten how to correctly do that.

As of 12/7/2021, this PRR was still missing "Employee Richard Harrington's 'Criminal History Systems Board (CORI) form'", which the NCSD claimed it would be able to provide as seen from their attached 12/7/2021 response. In this response, the NCSD let both the MA SPR and myself know that they were still working on acquiring this missing record. This appeal for "substantive nature" is continuing to request what the NCSD stated in writing that it would provide.

To help both the MA SPR, but mainly Attorney Collins who is having trouble with the nature of this request, the attached 12/7/2021 NCSD response stated verbatim:
"We do not have one [CORI Acknowledgement form] signed by Richard Harrington. A DOR staff member is assisting our office with Mr. Harrington's."
Nothing negates the fact that this originally requested record has still not been provided by the NCSD for one of their current employees.

I would also like to add that I do not know who Attorney Collins is, or who he works for in any capacity (as he has failed to provide any of that information), but I would like to thank him for confirming that the 1/26/2022 "phantom response" came from the NCSD. I would also like to kindly remind Attorney Collins that there are no M.G.L. statutes or C.M.R. codes in existence which require a records requester to communicate a written public records request over the phone whatsoever. Furthermore, for the record, I have received no phone calls from any of the NCSD staff members or Attorney Collins. Also, because Attorney Collins is an unidentified person, I would like to make him aware that all written communication regarding this PRR is made available transparently online for everyone in the world to see.

I respectively ask the MA SPR to treat this appeal for "substantive nature" as one to acquire the still-missing record which the NCSD claimed it would be able to provide in their attached 12/7/2021 written response.

Very Respectfully,
Josh

Hi,

Please see the following request for records. Thank you for your help with this request.

Sincerely,
MuckRock

Hi Jack,

Thank you for your partial response regarding the records request for the CORI Personal Request Form from Richard Harrington.
This request is still not complete, so please respond with the requested record in its entirety.

Sincerely