Patrick Higgins v. Swansea, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20160923)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A Williams Supervisor ofR ecords October 27, 2016 SPR16/923 Susan E. Taveira Town Clerk Town of Swansea 81 Main Street Swansea, MA 02777 Dear Ms. Taveira: I have received the petition of Patrick Higgins appealing the nonresponse of the Town of Swansea - Town Clerk (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Higgins requested a time and date to review "open meeting law certificates of open meeting law materials for all current elected and appointed officials." Having received no response, Mr. Higgins 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, § lO(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 Mr. Higgins with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. 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. Mr. Higgins may appeal the substantive nature of the Town's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Supervisor of Records cc: Patrick Higgins One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre• pre@sec.state.ma.us