John D. Rousseau v. Department of State Police - Station C-6, SP Holden (SPR 20160203)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords April 7, 2016 SPR16/202; SPR16/203 Mr. Michael B. Halpin, Esq. Chief Legal Counsel Department of State Police Office of the Chief Legal Counsel 4 70 Worcester Road Framingham, MA 01702 Dear Attorney Halpin: I have received the petition of John D. Rousseau appealing the nomesponse of the Department of State Police- C-Troop at the Holden Barracks (Department) to his requests for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1 O(b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Rousseau requested a copy of all records, including log entries, reports and photographs concerning an incident and investigation of: (a) A structure fire at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation-Highway Department facility on Main Street (Route 122A) in Rutland, around or about July 9, 2007 at approximately 2:44 (SPR16/202), and (b) An August 2006 and August 2007 theft of property from the Department of Conservation and Recreation facility located on Wilson Street in Clinton (SPR16/203). The Department's Holden Barracks did not respond to the request, and 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. It is my understanding that the Office of the Chief Legal Counsel never received Mr. Rousseau's request, and that Mr. Rousseau was previously informed to direct all his public records requests to the Office of the Chief Legal Counsel to ensure a written response. In the future, I advise Mr. Rousseau to direct his public records requests concerning the Department of State Police to the Office ofthe Legal Counsel. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma.us/pre

Mr. Michael B. Halpin, Esq. SPR16/202; SPR16/203 Page 2 April 7, 2016 On March 30, 2016, a member of my legal staff contacted you concerning this appeal and you indicated the Department's Office of the Chief Legal Counsel will send Mr. Rousseau a written response. On March 31, 2016, in response to a telephone call from Glenn Rooney, Staff Counsel at the Department, a member of my legal staff provided Attorney Rooney with a copy of the appeal file including the request. Accordingly, I will consider this appeal closed with the proviso that, within ten (10) days, the Department provides Mr. Rousseau a response to the requests, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and applicable case law. 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. Rousseau 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, § 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, Mr. Rousseau must be provided with the responsive records. To assist the Department in responding to requests for public records I advise a review of 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 and other members of 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. lease contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this determination £ f h r information. cc: Mr. John D. Rousseau