Corbett, Suzanne v. Ashland, Town of - Office of the Town Clerk (SPR 20140670)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords February 20,2015 SPR14/670 Ms. Mary Fitz-Gibbon Executive Administrator Town of Ashfield Board of Selectmen 412 Main Street; P.O. Box 560 Ashfield, MA 01330 Dear Ms. Fitz-Gibbon: I have received a petition from Suzanne M. Corbett appealing the September 10, 2014 responses of the Ashfield Board of Selectmen (Board) to her requests for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, on August 29, 2014, Ms. Corbett requested: A. To view all public records requests made by any individual or entity and held in binders by the Board from January 1, 2010-August 29, 2014, and B. Copies of all materials and information that will be provided to the Division of Open Government of the Office ofthe Attorney General (AGO) related to a specific matter. Request A Ms. Corbett originally requested these records in April2014. After receiving an initial response, no further response was provided. Once Ms. Corbett renewed her request in August 2014 the Town did respond. In her April request Ms. Corbett mentioned that the requests for public records had been previously reviewed by the Town's Select Board Vice Chair, and therefore should be readily available. Your response is silent on this assertion, accordingly I find the responsive records would not need to be pulled and refiled, as they would likely be segregated. Ms. Corbett did not request copies. She only requested the opportunity to view and inspect records. Accordingly, I find the Town erred in its assessment of a fee for search, segregation and copying of the records. Ms. Corbett also objected to the hours available to view the records. I find the time assessment by the Town is reasonable. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108. (617) 727-2832. Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma.us/pre

Ms. Mary Fitz-Gibbons SPR14/670 Page Two February 20, 2015 Request B Ms. Corbett sought copies of Board records that may be requested in the future by the AGO. It has come to my attention that no such request has been made by the AGO at this time. Ms. Corbett has therefore made a prospective public records request. I find that until such time as the Town has received a request for records from the AGO, the Town need only inform Ms. Corbett that, at the time of the request no responsive records yet exist. Accordingly, whereas I find that the Town erred in its assessment of fees, the Town is hereby ordered to revise its response to Ms. Corbett's requests in ten (10) days in accordance with this order, the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. This administrative appeal is closed. s, Supervisor of Records cc: Ms. Suzanne Corbett