Hillman, Charles v. Huntington, Town of - Fire Department (SPR 20140714)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords February 18,2015 SPR14/714 Chief Garry Dahill Huntington Fire Department P.O. Box 122 Huntington, MA 01050 Dear Chief Dahill:· I have received the petition of Charles Hillman appealing the nomesponse of the Huntington Fire Department to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lO(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Hillman requested a copy records associated with a power vent located at 23 East Main Street. The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all govermnental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § lO(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 Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). Mr. Hillman informed this office that after receiving no initial response the Department provided a Document Request form, with no further instruction. Mr. Hillman provided a copy of this form to my office. The form instructs the requester to indicate a reason for the request. This is not permitted under the Public Records Law. Further, a custodian cannot require use of a particular form in requesting records. The form contains two boxes, one labeled "Request Granted" the other "Request Denied." There appears to be no space available to indicate the reason for denial. As indicated above, a custodian must specifically identify an exemption to the Public Records Law as well as provide an explanation of the applicability of the exemption to the withheld records. One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832. Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma.us/pre

Chief Garry Dahill SPR14/714 Page Two January 18,2015 Though initially the Department failed to respond, Mr. Hillman informed a member of my staff that he has since received what he calls a partial response. The Department is hereby ordered to provide any remaining records to Mr. Hillman within ten (10) days. To assist in your understanding of the obligations of a records custodian I have attached to your copy of this letter our publication A Guide to Massachusetts Public Records Law, as well as the Municipal Records Retention Manual. This administrative appeal is now close yours, Supervisor of Records Enclosure cc: Mr. Charles Hillman