Kelly M. Kelly v. Townsend, Town of - Town Administrator (SPR 20160113)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords March 8, 2016 SPR16/113 Mr. James M. Kreidler, Jr. Interim Town Administrator Town of Townsend 272 Main Street Townsend, MA 01469 Dear Mr. Kreidler: I have received the petition of Kelly M. Kelly appealing the nomesponse of the Town of Townsend-Town Administrator (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lO(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Ms. Kelly requested a copy of the "October 2015 and December 2015 legal bills." Having received no response, Ms. Kelly 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, § IO(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 Town 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 via email from the Town on February 26, 2016 that the records were provided. Whereas this matter was opened based upon the Town's failure to provide a written response, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Ms. Kelly may appeal the substantive nature of the Town's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). To assist in requesting and responding to requests for public records please refer to our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is 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. James M. Kreidler, Jr SPR16/113 Page 2 March 8, 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 rth r information. s, cc: Ms. Kelly M. Kelly