Golrick, Peter v. Montague, Town of - Board of Selectmen (SPR 20140514)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords November 12, 2014 SPR14/527 Ms. Shannon C. Hickey, Esq. Executive Office of Public Safety & Security One Ashburton Place, Room 2133 Boston, MA 02108 Dear Attorney Hickey: I have received the petition of Joseph Labriola appealing the response of the Executive Office of Public Safety & Security (EOPSS) to his request for public records. G. L. c: 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Labriola requested copies of two categories of records. In the first request Mr. Labriola requested records related to the death of a specifically identified individual. You provided records in response to this request, explaining to Mr. Labriola that additional records may be available directly from the Department of Correction. In his second request, Mr. Labriola requested records relating to the departure of the former Department of Correction Commissioner. You denied this request, stating that all responsive records are exempt as persmmel records. G.L. c. 4 §7(26)(c). Subsequent to the intervention of my office you further clarified the EOPSS Exemption (c) claim. You also cited an additional claim of the common law attorney-client privilege to justify withholding of the responsive records. In an October 2, 2014 email to this office you explained that the responsive records fall within the core categories of records that are considered personnel records therefore exempt from public disclosure. The response to Mr. Labriola by EOPSS did not contain the specificity required in a denial of access to public records, as the detail contained in your email to this office was not provided in writing to Mr. Labriola in response to his request. To comply with the specificity requirement a records custodian must cite an exemption, and specifically explain the applicability of the exemption to the requested records. I find your email and communication with my staff did not satisfy this burden. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Ms. Shannon C. Hickey, Esq. SPR14/527 Page Two November 12, 2014 Accordingly, whereas EOPSS has failed to meet its burden of specificity, it is hereby ordered to provide all remaining responsive records to Mr. Labriola in a manner consistent with this order and the Public Records Law. IfEOPSS intends to withhold or redact any records pursuant to a specifically stated exemption, Mr. Labriola must be provided with a privilege index. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(8); see also Suffolk Constr. C . Inc. v. Div. of Ca ital Asset Management, 449 Mass. 444, 460 (2008). This administ ati e ap£ 1 is now closed. cc: Mr. Joseph Labriola