Tom Duggan v. Boxford, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20161154)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords December 20, 2016 SPR16/1154 Chief James B. Riter Boxford Police Department 285 Ipswich Road Boxford, MA 01921 Dear Chief Riter: I have received the petition of Tom Duggan of The Valley Patriot appealing the response of Town of Boxford-Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Duggan requested fifteen (15) categories of records. Previous appeals This request was the subject of a previous appeal. See SPR16/1 099 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (December 5, 2016). I closed SPR16/1099 in light of the Department's provision of a supplemental response dated December 1, 2016. Mr. Duggan appealed the December 1 response and this appeal (SPR16/1154) was opened as a result. Current appeal The December 1 response indicates the Department "enclosed" certain responsive records and explains there are no documents responsive to certain requests. The Department also provides fee estimates and exemption claims for certain categories of records. In his appeal petition, Mr. Duggan indicates he objects to several aspects of this response, including its exemption claims and fee estimates. Further, Mr. Duggan indicates the response "claims to have included multiple documents that we requested when no documents other than this response were enclosed." Therefore, it is unclear whether Mr. Duggan received the records the Department intended to provide. The Department must clarify this matter. I understand an attorney on my staff contacted Janelle Austin, Esq., an attorney representing the Department, about this appeal and provided her a copy of the file associated with this appeal. 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

Chief James B. Riter SPR16/1154 Page 2 December 20, 2016 Order Accordingly, the Department is hereby ordered to provide Mr. Duggan with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. In particular, the response must clarify whether the Department provided the records intended to provide with its December 1 response. 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. Duggan may appeal the substantive nature of the Department's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). s Supe visor of Records cc: Tom Duggan Janelle Austin, Esq.