Diego Ibarguen, Esq. v. Essex County Sheriff's Department (SPR 20160308)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords May 24,2016 SPR16/308 Mr. Maurice Pratt Essex County Sheriff's Department 20 Manning A venue Middleton, MA 01949 Dear Mr. Pratt: I have received the petition of Diego Ibargtien, Esq. of Hearst Corporation on behalf of his client Kathy Curran of WCVB-TV Channel 5 appealing the response of the Essex County Sheriff's Department (Department) to Ms. Curran's February 3, 2016 request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Ms. Curran requested a copy of records reflecting CPR and First Responder certification dates and expiration dates as of January 1, 2016 for all Department employees who handle inmate custody, care and transport. The Department provided Ms. Curran a spreadsheet; however Ms. Curran found spreadsheet not responsive to the date of January 1, 2016 specified in her public records request. Both Ms. Curran and Attorney Ibargtien contacted you by email on March 23 and by letter on April 21 to rectify the situation and obtain the records requested. You informed Ms. Curran on March 28, via email that the Department would not supply further information on names and/or additional training dates of specific employees. You failed to respond to Attorney Ibargtien's letter. Attorney Ibargtien appealed the non-response. The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); 950 C.M.R. 32.08(4). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 10 ( c); see also District Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Mr. Maurice Pratt SPR16/308 Page2 May 24,2016 I find the Department has failed to respond to a request for public records. The Department has neither claimed an exemption in the Public Records Law to withhold the responsive records, nor has the Department offered any explanation for not providing the records. Accordingly, the Department is hereby ordered, within ten (10) days ofthis order, to provide Kathy Curran with the responsive records, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. If the Department maintains that any portion ofthe responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (10) days provide to Ms. Curran and Attorney Ibarguen 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, § 1O (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 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 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 i person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon request. ntact my office directly at the telephone number below for further information. a ams Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Diego Ibarglien, Esq.