Jesse Lee Bigham v. Plymouth County Sheriff's Office (SPR 20170238)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records February 27, 2017 SPR17/238 Patrick C. Lee, Esq. General Counsel Plymouth County Sheriffs Department 24 Long Pond Road Plymouth, MA 02360 Dear Attorney Lee: I have received the petition of Jesse Lee Bigham appealing the response of the Plymouth County Sheriffs Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Bigham requested records pertaining to himself. In the Department's most recent response dated January 19, 2017 you cite the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) Act. See G. L. c. 7, § 26(a); G. L. c. 6, § 167. Purpose of request In his petition, it appears that Mr. Bigham is requesting access to his own records. Please note that the reason for which a requestor seeks access to or a copy of a public record does not afford any greater right of access to the requested information than other persons in the general public. The Public Records Law does not distinguish between requestors. Access to a record pursuant to the Public Records Law rests on the content of the record and not the circumstances of the requester. See Bougas v. Chief of Police of Lexington, 371 Mass. 59, 64 (1976). Accordingly, Mr. Bigham's purpose in making the request has no bearing on the public status of any existing responsive records. Conclusion You indicate in your January 19th response that the Department has previously explained to Mr. Bigham how he may access his own information. In addition, Mr. Bigham included various authorization and release forms in his petition to this office. I understand a member of my staff provided you a copy of the file for your review and you indicated the Department would proceed with the request according to internal and statutory procedures. Whereas Mr. Bigham has access to responsive records through statutes other than the Public Records Law, I decline to opine on this matter. See also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(9)(a) (the administrative appeal process 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

Patrick C. Lee, Esq. SPRl 7/238 Page 2 February 27, 2017 "shall not apply to records in which an individual, or a representative of the individual, has a unique right of access to the record through statutory, regulatory, judicial or other applicable means"). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Jesse Lee Bigham