LaRoche, Jr., Ron v. Greenfield, Town of - Housing Authority (SPR 20140239)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Superviso1· ofR ecords June 3, 2014 SPR14/239 Mr. Daniel Finn Executive Director Greenfield Housing Authority 1 Elm Terrace Greenfield, MA 0 13 0 1 Dear Director Finn: I have received the petition of Ronald LaRoche Jr., appealing the response of the Greenfield Housing Authority (Authority) to his request for public records. See G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. LaRoche requested a copy of an Authority Standard Application he completed on or about April 13, 2013. As of the date of this determination and despite several calls to you by members of my staff the Authority has not met its burden under the Public Records Law in responding to this records request. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten (10) days of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b); 950 C.M.R. 32.05. The response may be an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. The Authority is advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. The ten-day provision is a maximum, rather than a minimum, time frame for complying with a public records request. The Public Records Law states that "the burden shall be upon the custodian to prove with specificity the exemption which applies." G. L. c. 66, § 10(c) (emphasis added). See also Globe Newspaper Co. v. Police Comm'r, 419 Mass. 852, 857 (1995); see also District Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995). Accordingly, the Authority is advised that to comply with the Public Records Law and Regulations it must provide specificity with respect to any denial of access to public records. This requires a records custodian to not only cite an exemption, but to specifically explain the applicability of the exemption to the requested records. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Mr. Daniel Finn SPR14/157 Page Two June 3, 2014 Accordingly, the Authority is hereby ordered, within ten (10) days ofthis order, to provide Mr. LaRoche with the requested records, or provide to this office, with specificity, how a particular exemption applies to each record. If the Authority is planning to charge for the cost of complying with this public records request, Mr. LaRoche must be provided with a detailed written, good faith estimate on each particular request. Once the Authority receives the estimate funds, the records must be provided. Failure to comply with this administrative order may result in the filing of a complaint for enforcement in the Superior Court by Mr. LaRoche. cc: Ronald LaRoche Jr.