Higgins, Patrick v. Fall River Law Department (SPR 20150531)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords July 30, 2015 SPRlS/531 Mr. Joseph I. Macy, Esq. City of Fall River One Government Center Fall River, MA 02722 Dear Attorney Macy: I have received the petition of Patrick Higgins appealing the nonresponse of the City of Fall River (City) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1 O(b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Higgins requested a payroll list of a specifically identified group of City employees. Having received no response, Mr. Higgins 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, § 10(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. The City is advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Subsequent to the intervention by a member of my staff, this office was notified that a response was provided, dated July 29, 2015. Whereas this matter was opened based upon the City's failure to provide a written response, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Mr. Higgins may appeal the substantive nature of the City's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Patrick Higgins One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · {617) 727-2832 ·Fax {617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre