Shibley, Craig v. Worcester County Sheriff's Office (SPR 20150500)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor of& cords September 23, 2015 SPRlS/500 Mr. Jason Rives Worcester County Sheriffs Office Civil Process Division, Inc. 240 Main Street P.O. Box 1066 Worcester, MA 01613 Dear Mr. Rives: I have received the petition of Craig Shibley appealing the response of the Worcester County Sheriffs Office (Office) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Shibley requested a copy of the annual revenue reports submitted to the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees from 2008-2014 specific to the Civil Process Division (CPD). You denied his request, claiming that the responsive records request should be made to the CPD and not the Office. Despite Mr. Shibley providing a portion of a transitional audit conducted by the Office of State Auditor, Chapter 26, §649 of the Acts of 2003 requiring the Office to file said report, no records have been provided to Mr. Shibley. 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 (1 0) days of this order, to provide Mr. Shibley 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. Shibley a written OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma.us/pre

Mr. Jason Rives SPR15/500 Page Two September 23, 2015 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 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, § 1O (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 ofrecords shall provide written good faith estimate). Once the fees are paid, you must provide the responsive records. s, . Williams cc: Mr. Craig Shibley