Henriquez, Carlos v. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (SPR 20150434)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords July 20, 2015 SPRlS/434 Ms. Jacqueline Faherty, Esq. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner 720 Albany Street Boston, MA 02118 Dear Attorney Faherty: I have received the petition of Carlos Hemiquez appealing the nomesponse of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (Office) to his April28, 2015 request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Hemiquez requested a copy of "the employment work schedule (to include any vacation and suspended time) and an employment attendance sheet (to include any overtime performed)" of a specifically identified Office employee. Despite our letter to you dated June 11, 2015 acknowledging the opening of this appeal, as well as follow-up messages from members of the staff, no response was provided to this request. 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 Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). Accordingly, whereas the Office has not overcome the presumption that the requested records are public, the Office is hereby ordered, within ten (10) day ofthis order, to provide Mr. Hemiquez with the requested records. If the Office maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (1 0) days provide to Mr. Hemiquez a written explanation, with specificity, how a particular exemption applies to each record. To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. A copy of OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma.us/pre

Ms. Jacqueline Faherty, Esq. SPR15/434 Page Two July 20, 2015 any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. If there are any fees associated with this response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § IO(a); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2) (where cost of complying with a request for public records is expected to exceed ten dollars ($10.00), custodian of records shall provide written good faith estimate). Once the fees are paid, you must provide the responsive records. cc: Mr. Carlos Henriquez