Rousseau, John v. West Boylston, Town of - Fire Department (SPR 20150938)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor of& cords January 14, 2016 SPRlS/938 Mr. Thomas Welsh Fire Chief Town of West Boylston-Fire Department 3 9 Worcester Street West Boylston, MA 01583 Dear Chief Welsh: I have received the petition of John Rousseau appealing the nonresponse of the Town of West Boylston-Fire Department (Department) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Rousseau requested records regarding any response(s) made by your department to a specifically identified location in West Boylston. Having received no response, Mr. Rousseau 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 that a response was provided, dated January 12, 2016. Whereas this matter was opened based upon the Department's failure to provide a written response, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Mr. Rousseau may appeal the substantive nature of the Department's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). 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 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. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma.us/pre

Mr. Thomas Welsh SPR15/938 Page2 January 14, 2016 In addition, members of my staff will visit a records c stodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon request. lease contact my office directly at the telephone number below for further information. Enclosure cc: Mr. John Rousseau