Maciel, Joseph v. Sandwich, Town of (SPR 20140271)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords May 15,2014 SPR14/271 Mr. George H. Dunham Town Manager Town of Sandwich 130 Main Street Sandwich MA, 0253 7 Dear Mr. Dunham: I have received the petition of Joseph H. Maciel appealing the response of the Town of Sandwich (Town) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Maciel requested a copy of an investigation of the Town's Fire Department conducted by Robert Pomeroy. In the Town's response you denied providing the responsive record claiming Exemptions (a) and (c) of the Public Records Law. 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, § IO(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 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). The response by the Town did not contain the specificity required in a denial of access to public records. Accordingly, the Town is advised that to comply with the Public Records Law and its 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. George H. Dunham SPR14/271 Page Two May 15,2014 Accordingly, the Town is hereby ordered, within ten (10) days ofthis order, to provide Mr. Maciel with the requested records, or provide to Mr. Maciel and 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. Maciel 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. Maciel. Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Joseph H. Maciel