O'Leary, Michael v. Lawrence, City of - Licensing Board (SPR 20150514)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords September 23, 2015 SPRlS/514 Charles D. Boddy, Esq. Office of the City Attorney 200 Common Street, Room 306 Lawrence, MA 0 1840 Dear Attorney Boddy: I have received the petition of Michael O'Leary of Hospitality Mutual Insurance Company appealing the nomesponse of the City of Lawrence (City) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. O'Leary requested copies records from the City Licensing Board's hearings relating to an incident at a specifically identified business. In a response dated May, 4, 2015 the City denied his request in its entirety citing to the Criminal Offender Records Information (CORI) statute G. L. c 6 §168 as it operates by way of Exemption (a), the statutory exemption to the Public Records Law. In its response the city claims the records sought fall within the definition of CORI. The City provided no additional information to support its exemption claim. 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). Public records and any non-exempt, segregable portions thereof, are subject to mandatory disclosure upon request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a); see also Reinstein v. Police Comm'r ofBoston, 378 Mass. 281, 289-90 (1979) (the statutory exemptions are not blanket in nature). The Public Records Law states that "the burden shall be upon the custodian to prove with specificity the exemption which applies." G. L. c. 66, § 10(c) (emphasis added). See also Globe Newspaper Co. v. Police Comm'r, 419 Mass. 852, 857 (1995); District Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995). The response by the City did not contain the specificity required in a denial of access to public records. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Charles D. Boddy, Esq. SPR15/514 Page Two September 23, 2015 To comply with the Public Records Law and its Regulations a records custodian must provide specificity with respect to any denial of access to public records. This requires a records custodian to not only cite an exemption, but to specifically explain the applicability of the exemption to the requested records. The City failed to explain how records related to a, presumably public, hearing held by its Licensing Board should be considered be exempt from disclosure pursuant to the CORI statute. Accordingly, whereas the City has not overcome the presumption that the requested records are public, the City is hereby ordered, within ten (10) days ofthis order, to provide Mr. O'Leary with the requested records. If the City maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (10) days provide to Mr. O'Leary 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. If there are any fees associated with this response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(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. n Superv sor ofRecords cc: Michael O'Leary