Bryan Dumont v. Shirley, Town of - Town Administrator (SPR 20170992)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records July 27, 2017 SPR17/992 Timothy D. Zessin, Esq. KPLaw Town of Shirley 1 0 1 Arch Street Boston, MA 0221 0 Dear Attorney Zessin: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Shirley (Town) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of the requested public record, or any portion thereof. G. L. c. 66 § 10(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, the Town provided a copy of the petition to the requester. G. L. c. 66 § 10(c). Bryan Dumont requested documents "concerning allegations leveled against former Shirley Police Officer" and current Acting Chief including "any email communications between you (Patrice Garvin), the Town, the towns legal counsel and/or it Boards of Selectman concerning allegations of Obstruction of Justice identified and or discussed by Investigator Benoit as this charge may apply to the Towns Board of Selectman or others." 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 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

Timothy D. Zessin, Esq. SPR17/992 Page 2 July 27, 2017 ·(vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. G. L. c. 66 § 10(c). 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 requester within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 CMR 36.06(4)(b). Current petition In your petition you explain the City is seeking a time extension "due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts." The City explains "the parties responsible for searching and reviewing the potentially responsive records have not had sufficient time to meet to determine the Town's response to the request." You assert "extending the deadline by twenty (20) days will provide the Town officials with the time necessary to make these determinations." Conclusion Based on the documents provided in the petition, the Town has not explained how many responsive records exist nor described the scope of any potential redaction. G. L. c. 66 § 10 (c )(i) (ii). Also, it is unclear whether the Town can provide responsive records within twenty five business days ofthe receipt of the July 6, 2017 request as allowed in G. L. c. 66 § 10(b)(vi). I understand a member of the Public Records Division contacted you but was unable to obtain a clarification regarding this matteL Therefore, I decline to opine on the Town's petition at this time. The Town is advised it must seek another petition for extension if it cannot provide responsive records within twenty five business days of the receipt ofthe request or if Mr. Dumont does not agree to an extension oftime. See G. L. c. 66 § 10(c). The Town must re submit such a petition within twenty business days after initial receipt of the request. I d. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Bryan Dumont