Bringhurst, Robert v. Essex County Correctional Facility (SPR 20150875)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords January 5, 2016 SPRlS/875 Mr. Richard Jeffrey, Esq. Legal Department Essex County Sheriffs Department PO Box 807 20 Manning Ave Middleton, MA 01940-2807 Dear Attorney Jeffrey: I have received the petition of Robert Bringhurst appealing the nonresponse of Essex County Sheriffs Department (Department) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Bringhurst requested copies of "incident and investigation reports" regarding an incident that occurred on "July 3, 2015." Having received no response, Mr. Bringhurst 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 Department 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 on December J 7, 20 15 by Lieutenant Heidi Mora that Mr. Bringhurst's request was and forwarded to you. On that day a member of my staff placed a telephone call to you in regards to this matter. The Department provided an initial response, but otherwise failed to meet its burden in providing a response to a request for public records. 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, § 1O (b ); 950 C.M.R. 32.05. The ten-day provision is a maximum, rather than a minimum, time frame for complying with a public records request. The response may be an o±Ier to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. The Department is advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. To assist the Department in responding to requests for public records I have enclosed a copy of our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Mr. Richard Jeffrey, Esq. SPR15/875 Page Two January 5, 2016 also available on the Internet, free of charge, at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf. Attorneys on my staff are available during regular business hours to answer general questions regarding the Public Records Law. In addition, members of my staff will visit a records custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon request. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number below for further information. I find the Department has failed to respond to a request for public records. Accordingly, the Departmentis hereby ordered, within ten (10) days ofthis order, to provide Mr. Bringhurst with a response to his request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. If the Department maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (1 0) days provide to Mr. Bringhurst 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, § 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, y, u must provide the responsive records. · cc: Mr. Robert Bringhurst