Jim Morrison v. Executive Office of Health and Human Services - Department of Public Health (SPR 20160145)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords March 11, 2016 SPR16/145 Mr. Omar Carbrera Executive Office of Health and Human Services Department of Public Health 250 Washington Street Boston, MA 02108 Dear Mr. Carbrera: I have received the petition of Mr. Jim Morison appealing the response of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically on February 8, 2016, Mr. Morison requested copies records related to certain marriage records for a specified period. The basis of Mr. Morison's appeal is that at the time of his petition EOHHS had not responded to his request for 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, § 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 EOHHS is advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Accordingly, the EOHHS is hereby ordered, within ten (10) days ofthis order, to provide Mr. Morison with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. Ifthe EOHHS maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (1 0) days provide to Mr. Morrison 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. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Mr. Omar Carbrera SPR16/145 Page 2 March 11, 2016 If there are any fees associated with this response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(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, you must provide the responsive records. 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. In addition, members of my staff will visit a reco s custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon r ~ est. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this det m· io tr further information. t ly~yo rs, 1 Sh w · . illiarns Su erviso of Records cc: Mr. Jim Morison