Dawn Dunbar v. Townsend, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20160371)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor of& cords June 3, 2016 SPR16/371 Ms. Kathleen M. Spofford Town Clerk 272 Main Street Townsend, MA 01469 Dear Ms. Spofford: I have received the petition of Dawn Dunbar appealing the response of the Town of Townsend (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Ms. Dunbar requested copies of Town records regarding her "children on/with ATV' s and photos of alleged damage to Old Meetinghouse Park". In a response dated May 12, 2016 you informed Ms. Dunbar that your office does not maintain any records responsive to her request and that the request has been forwarded to the Town Administrator. The basis of Ms. Dunbar's appeal is that as of the time of her petition she had not received a response to her public records request from the Town Administrator. 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). 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. All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. I find the Town has failed to respond to a request for public records. Accordingly, the Town is hereby ordered to provide Ms. Dunbar with a response to the request without delay, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. If the Town maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must provide to Ms. Dunbar a written explanation, with specificity, how a particular exemption applies OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Ms. Kathleen M. Spofford SPR16/371 Page 2 June 3, 2016 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 a records custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon 1':quest. Please contact my office for directly at the telephone number provided in this det inatio1f further information. ( I7rs. ( Sh . Williams "--s ervisor of Records cc: Ms. Dawn Dunbar Mr. James M. Kreidler, Jr., Interim Town Administrator