Michael Dreslinski v. Clinton, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20171131)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records September 5, 2017 SPR17/1131 Robert E. Champagne Clinton Police Department 176 Chestnut Street Clinton, MA O1 510 Dear Officer Champagne: I have received the petition of Michael Dreslinski appealing the response of the Clinton Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Dreslinski requested four categories ofrecords including "rap sheets," photos related to officers formal reports, an officer formal report, and log inventory · report. Mr. Dreslinski petitioned this office, indicating that "the Department failed to respond to my public record request within 10 business days as required by Law and Regulations." Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten business days ofreceipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(a),(b). The response may contain, among other things, an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. G. L. c. 66, § 1 O(b ). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Please note that under the Public Records Law, a municipal records access officer must provide a written response to the requester within ten business days of receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 1 O(b ). In this response the records access officer may identify a reasonable timeframe in which it shall produce the public records sought; provided, that for a municipality the timeframe shall not exceed 25 business days following the initial receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(vi). The requestor may voluntarily agree to a response date beyond these timeframes. See id. Subsequent to the intervention by a staff member of the Public Records Division, this office learned that the Department provided Mr. Dreslinski a supplemental response on August 16, 2017. In light of this subsequent response, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Mr. Dreslinski may appeal the substantive nature of the Department's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). 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

Robert E. Champagne SPRl 7/1131 Page 2 September 5, 2017 Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Michael Dreslinski