Wallack, Todd v. Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (SPR 20150231)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division · Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords June 24, 2015 SPRlS/231 Mr. Peter W. Judge Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency 400 Worcester Road Framingham, MA 01702-5399 Dear Mr. Judge: I have received the petition of Todd Wallack of The Boston Globe appealing the nonresponse of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Wallack requested a copy of a report that was done on the response to the Boston Marathon bombings that was completed by Systems Planning Corporation and its Tri-Data Division in Arlington, VA. Having received no response, Mr. Wallack petitioned this office. 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, § 1O (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. MEMA is advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. After this administrative appeal had been opened by this office, you notified an attorney on my staff that on April 3, 2015 the entire responsive report was provided free of charge, and available on MEMA's website. You personally notified Mr. Wallack that he could log onto the MEMA website to review the report. I find that initially, MEMA has failed to meet its burden by citing an exemption in the Public Records Law to withhold the r port, however I find that MEMA has now met its burden by providing the report. Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Todd Wallack OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre