Maya Shaffer v. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority - Office of the General Counsel (SPR 20160222)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords April 7, 2016 SPR16/222 Mr. Richard Sullivan, Superintendent Massachusetts Transit Police Department 240 Southampton Street Boston, MA 02118 Dear Superintendent Sullivan: I have received the petition of Maya Shaffer, on behalf of The Bay State Examiner, appealing the nomesponse of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (Authority) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Ms. Shaffer requested all video of an unidentified person entering and inside the Government Center station who took pictures and posted them on reddit. Having received no response, Ms. Shaffer 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, § 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. 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 April 6, 2016. Whereas this matter was opened based upon the Authority's failure to provide a written response, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Ms. Shaffer may appeal the substantive nature of the Authority'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. 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 information. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Mr. Richard Sullivan, Superintendent SPR16/222 Page 2 April 7, 2016 lliams Superviso of Records cc: Ms. Maya Shaffer