Dreslinski, Michael v. Clinton, Town of - Town Administrator (SPR 20140243)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords June 3, 2014 SPR14/243 Mr. Michael J. Ward Town Administrator 242 Church Street Clinton, MA 01510 Dear Mr. Ward: I have received the petition of Michael Dreslinski, appealing the response of the Town of Clinton (Town) to his request for public records. See G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Dreslinski requested copies of records regarding the Town's purchase of certain property. As ofthe date of this determination and despite several calls to you by members of my staffthe Town 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 Town 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 Town 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. Michael J. Ward SPR14/243 Page Two June 3, 2014 Accordingly, the Town is hereby ordered, within ten (10) days ofthis order, to provide Mr. Dreslinski with the requested records, or provide to this office, with specificity, how a particular exemption applies to each record. If the Town is planning to charge for the cost of complying with this public records request, Mr. Dreslinski must be provided with a detailed written, good faith estimate on each particular request. Once the Town 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. Dreslinski. Shawn A. Williams Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Michael Dreslinski