Myrick, Steve v. Dukes County Commissioners (SPR 20140630)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords December 16, 2014 SPR14/630 Ms. Martina Thornton County Manager Dukes County Commission P.O. Box 190 Edgartown, MA 02539 Dear Ms. Thornton: I have received the petition of Steve Myrick of The Martha Vineyard Times appealing the response of the Dukes County Commission (County) to his requests for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lO(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Myrick requested a copy of records related to an Open Meeting Law (OML) complaint filed by a specifically identified person related to an executive session. Mr. Myrick also requested a copy of the minutes to that executive session. In a second request Mr. Myrick requested a copy of records related to a review of candidates for vacancy on the Airport Commission of the County. Mr. Myrick appealed the County's response. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten (1 0) days of the request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(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 Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); 950 C.M.R. 32.08(4). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); see also District Attorney for the OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832. Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Ms. Martina Thornton SPR14/630 Page Two December 16, 2014 Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). Your response to Mr. Myrick's request for OML records was timely, but substantively deficient. I find, therefore, that the County has failed to satisfy its burden of specificity as the response cited no exemption to justify a denial of access to a public record. Mr. Myrick requested these records on August 19, 2014. While the response was timely, it failed to satisfy the Public Records Law, as it consisted of a blanket denial unaccompanied by any specifically cited exemption to the Public Records Law. Mr. Myrick informed this office the records were released on September 2, 2014, fourteen (14) days after his request. The Commission is hereby ordered, within ten (1 0) days of this order, to provide Mr. Myrick with the requested record related to his OML complaint request. If the Commission maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must provide to Mr. Myrick a written explanation, with specificity, how a particular exemption applies to each record. Mr. Myrick may appeal the substantive nature of the County's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Supervisor ofRecords cc: Mr. Steve Myrick