Brooks A. Ames v. Brookline, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20170449)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records March 16, 2017 Patrick J. Ward Town Clerk/Records Access Officer Brookline Town Hall 3 3 3 Washington Street, Room 104 Brookline, MA 02445-6853 Dear Mr. Ward: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Brookline (Town) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of the requested record, or any portion thereof. G. L. c. 66 § IO(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). Specifically, Brooks A. Ames, Esq. requested records related to a specific "Special Order." As required by law, the Town furnished a copy of this petition to Attorney Ames. Petitions for an extension of time Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 30 business days. In determining whether there has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) efforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. G. L. c. 66 § IO(c). If the Supervisor determines that the request is part of a series of contemporaneous 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 J. Ward Page 2 March 16, 2017 requests that are frivolous or designed to intimidate or harass, and the requests are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity, the Supervisor may grant a longer extension or relieve the agency or municipality of its obligation to provide copies of the records sought. Id. The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requester within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 CMR 36.06(4)(b). Current petition In your petition dated March 9, 2017 you explain the Town received Attorney Ames's initial request on February 10, 2017, in which he requested "any memorandum that were provided to the Selectmen or the Town Administrator in connection with the preparation and issuance of the Special Order" and "any written legal opinion that was prepared by the Town Counsel's office regarding the legality of the order." You indicate Attorney Ames clarified his request on February 22, 2017 by seeking "any written communications to or from the Selectmen and/or Town Administrator concerning Special Order 2012-6 and/or the decision to cooperate with the Secure Communities program." The Town is seeking an "extension of time for a period of ten (10) days in order to permit the custodians of the records to expand their search and determine if there are any responsive documents pursuant to the requester's clarified February 22, 2017 public records request." Subsequently, in an email dated March 16, 2017 you explain the Town "believes it will be able to produce any responsive records based upon Attorney Ames's February 22 request, within 25 business days." Conclusion In light of the Town's March 9th petition and March 16th email, I find it is unnecessary to opine on the Town's extension request because it intends to provide responsive records within twenty five (25) business days of the receipt of the February 22nd request as allowed in G. L. c. 66 § lO(b)(vi). The Town is advised it must seek another petition for extension if it cannot provide responsive records within twenty five (25) business days of the receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66 § lO(c). The records must be provided in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. Attorney Ames may appeal the substantive nature of the Town's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

Patrick J. Ward Page 3 March 16, 2017 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Brooks A. Ames, Esq.