Patrick Higgins v. Fall River, City of - Office of the City Clerk (SPR 20170082)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 27, 2017 SPR17/082 Alison Bouchard, City Clerk City of Fall River One Government Center Fall River, MA 02722 Dear Ms. Bouchard: I have received the petition of Patrick Higgins appealing the response of the City of Fall River (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Higgins requested a date and time to inspect executive session minutes of the Fall River Retirement System (System) for the calendar year 2016. Mr. Higgins made his request to the Fall River City Clerk (Clerk) on January 3, 2017 and the Clerk advised Mr. Higgins in her response that Mr. Higgins must send his request directly to the Fall River Retirement Board (Board). Mr. Higgins objected to the response stating the Board refused to respond to his request. The Public Records Law 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, § 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. 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). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only 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

Alison Bouchard SPR17/082 Page 2 January 27, 2017 cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(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 fees are paid, a records custodian 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 request. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this determination for further information. Order In a discussion with Michael Sacco, attorney for the System, this office was notified that the Board is a separate entity from the City. Mr. Sacco stated that once the Board receives a request from Mr. Higgins, the Board will provide Mr. Higgins with a response to the request, prepared in a manner consistent with 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. Sincerely, V\f\U AI~ ~ :ebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Patrick Higgins