Higgins, Patrick v. Freetown, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20150506)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords August 21, 2015 SPRlS/506 Mr. Jack Healey 3 North Main Street PO Box 438 Assonet, MA 02702 Dear Mr. Healy: I have received the petition of Patrick Higgins appealing the response of the Town of Freetown (Town) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Higgins requested "a copy of the following records: Executive Session Minutes from calendar year 2014 and 2015 of the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Freetown, MA." Despite our July 8, 2015 letter acknowledging the opening of this appeal and several conversations with a member of my staff, no response has been issued to date. 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 Town has not overcome the presumption that the requested records are public, Town is hereby ordered, within ten (1 0) days of this order, to provide Mr. Higgins with the requested records. If the Town maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (1 0) days provide to Mr. Higgins 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 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. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Mr. Jack Healy SPR15/506 Page Two August, 2015 If there are any fees associated with this response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § lO(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. yours, Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Patrick Higgins