Maya Shaffer v. Office of the District Attorney - Middlesex District (SPR 20160356)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords June 3, 2016 SPR16/356 Ms. Elizabeth Vlock Office of the District Attorney - Middlesex District 15 Commonwealth Ave. Woburn, MA 01801 Dear Ms. Vlock: I have received the petition of Maya Shaffer appealing the nonresponse of the Office of the District Attorney-Middlesex District (Office) to her April30, 2016 request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Ms. Shaffer requested a number of records pertaining to "All video and reports related to the death of [a specifically identified person] in [the City of] Everett." Other than a May 2, 2016 acknowledgment from the Office no response has been provided. Failure to timely respond to a request for public records The Office provided an initial response, but otherwise failed to meet its burden in providing a response to a request for public records. 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 ofthe request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b); 950 C.M.R. 32.05. The ten-day provision is a maximum, rather than a minimum, time frame for complying with a public records request. The response may be an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. Office is advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. A record custodian must comply with a public records request as soon as is practicable, without unreasonable delay, and always within ten (10) calendar days. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a); 950 C.M.R. 32.05(2). The Office is advised that all responses to requests for public records must be made in compliance with the timeliness requirement of the Access Regulations. The acknowledgment from the Office was provided within the ten (10) day period. To date, however, no substantive response has been provided. More than thirty (30) days have elapsed from the April30 request to the date of this order. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Ms. Elizabeth Vlock SPR16/356 Page 2 June 3, 2016 I find the Office has failed to respond to a request for public records. Accordingly, the Office is hereby ordered to provide Ms. Shaffer with a revised response to the request without delay, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. If the Office maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must provide to Ms. Shaffer 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 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 re ords custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law up r quest. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this det ·nat o for further information. illiams cc: Ms. Maya Shaffer