Wallack, Todd v. Office of the Attorney General - Non-Profit Organizations/Public Charities Division (SPR 20150186)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor of& cords April27, 2015 SPRlS/186 Ms. Lorraine A. G. Tarrow, Esq. Assistant Attorney General Office of the Attorney General General Counsel's Office One Ashburton Place Boston, MA 02108 Dear Attorney Tarrow: I have received a petition from Todd Wallack of The Boston Globe regarding the response of the Office of the Attorney General (AGO) to his request for a public record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Wallack requested a copy of: The data contained within the computer system that the AGO uses to track criminal court cases, including all the rows, columns (also known as fields), and column titles (also called field names or headers) within those data tables for all years that are available in your current computer system. I ask that you provide the data in a standard electronic format, such as ASCII delimited text files, via FTP, email or on a standard electronic media (such as a CD-ROM or thumb drive). Mr. Wallack further states: "I am willing to narrow my request to the data tables that contain the following types of information" Case ID Number (used by the computer system to link different tables together) Offense Date Case Filing Date Docket Number Court Name (where the case was handled) Criminal Count Number Charge/crime Code (ex: c266 sl) Charge/crime Description (ex: Arson of dwelling house) Department that filed the charge The way the charge was initiated (ex: grand jury indictment, filed by police ... etc.) OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Lorraine A. G. Tarrow, Esq. SPR15/186 Page Two April27, 2015 Defendant ID Number (internal tracking number used by DA's office to identify defendant) Defendant Race/Ethnicity Defendant Gender Judge's Name (who handled disposition) Disposition Date Disposition Code Disposition Description Disposition Type Disposition/sentence recommended by prosecutor for each charge Sentence Type Sentence Description Case Status In your February 20, 2015 response (and in a previous response) you informed Mr. Wallack that the AGO does not use a computer system or maintain a database or software program to track criminal court cases. While the AGO is not required to create a record in response to a Public Records Law request, the AGO has offered to create a record of limited scope. Therefore, I find that AGO understood Mr. Wallack's request and has responded to it with the best of its knowledge, and with providing responsive records. The AGO provided Mr. Wallack with a written, good faith estimate for $165.00 to cover the costs of creating a record in response to his January 6, 2015 request. The estimated fee concerns 3.5 hours oflnformation Technology staff time, and 2.0 hours of attorney time at the hourly rate of $30.00 per hour to gather information and create an Excel spreadsheet. For all cases, the AGO will provide case names, docket numbers and criminal charges for which the defendant was indicted. For "closed cases" only, the AGO would also provide Mr. Wallack with any disposition data that is available. Once Mr. Wallack pays the estimate, the AGO will commence creation of the record. If the AGO omits any portion it deems not public, it must provide a detailed explanation citing, with specificity, the applicability of any exemption. Accordingly, whereas, the AGO is not required to create a record, but has offered to do so, I consider Mr. Wallack's public records request satisfied nd is appeal closed. Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Todd Wallack