Amy L. Codagnone, Esq. v. Lawrence, City of - Fire Department (SPR 20160010)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofRecords January 22, 2016 SPR16/010 Officer Gene Scanlon 90 Lowell Street Lawrence, MA 01840 Dear Officer Scanlon: I have received the petition of Amy L. Codagnone, Esq. appealing the nonresponse of City of Lawrence-Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Attorney Codagnone requested "any and all records" held by the Department relating to incidents stemming from several Lawrence addresses between the dates of August 2010 through August 2013. Having received no response, Attorney Codagnone 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 (10) days of the request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(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 January 12, 2016 by Ms. Maria Peralta that Attorney Codagnone's request was forwarded to you for response. The Department is hereby ordered to provide a written response within ten (10) days. Ms. Codagnone 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 and other members of 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

Officer Gene Scanlon SPR16/010 Page 2 January 22, 2016 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 provided in this determination for further ·n formation. Enclosure cc: Ms. Amy L. Codagnone, Esq.