Eileen W. Mooney v. Great Barrington, Town of - Office of the Town Clerk (SPR 20170755)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords June 9, 2017 SPR17/755 Marie Y. Ryan, CMC Town Clerk Town of Great Barrington 334 Main Street Great Barrington, MA O1 23 0 Dear Ms. Ryan: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Great Barrington (Town) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of records responsive to a public records request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). As required by law, the Town furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor. Id. The requestor sought information on resume and pay of new employees and interns mentioned at the May 15th Selectboard meeting. 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 § lO(c). 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

MaryY. Ryan SPRl 7/755 Page 2 June 9, 2017 If the Supervisor determines that the request is part of a series of contemporaneous 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 requestor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 CMR 36.06(4)(b). Current petition In your petition dated June 2, 2017, you indicate the Town was requesting an extension of time for completing a response to a public records request. In subsequent correspondence between a member of the Public Records Division staff and the Town on June 8, 2017, it was discovered the Town was not aware it had 25 business days under the law to comply with the request. G. L. c. 66 § IO(b)(vi). The Town indicated it would be able to respond to the request within the 25 business day time frame. Therefore, an extension of time is unnecessary. Conclusion I find that in light of the Town's June 8th correspondence and assurance it will meet the statutory deadline in providing the responsive records, it is unnecessary to opine on the Town's petition for an extension of time. The Town is advised it must provide the records in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. The requestor may appeal the substantive nature of the Town's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Eileen Mooney