Erica A. Scott v. Fall River, City of - Office of the City Clerk (SPR 20171724)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 3, 2017 SPR17/1724 Alison M. Bouchard City Clerk Fall River -City Hall One Government Center Fall River, MA 02722. Ms. Bouchard: I have received the petition of Erica Scott appealing the response of the City of Fall River City Clerk's Office (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § IOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1 ). Specifically, Ms. Scott requested records related to identified individuals and boards, including the Watuppa Water Board. Ms. Scott also requested "numerous email attachments listed in Outlook emails." Ms. Scott appealed, indicating certain records were not provided. 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 of receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § IO(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, § IO(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Subsequent to the intervention by a member of the Public Records Division, in an email dated December 27, 2017, you explain the City "reached out to the Office of the Corporation Counsel earlier and learned that a response was provided to Erica Scott, but it was undeliverable." You also provided a December 18, 2017 letter that explains "[a]nother mailing . has been sent to Ms. Scott." The letter provided on December 18th did not appear to provide Ms. Scott with all responsive records, particularly emails she requested. The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian ofrecords at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § IO(a)(ii). Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to produce responsive records in its possession in a manner consistent with this determination, the Public Record Law, and its Regulation within ten business days. 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

Alison M. Bouchard SPRI 7/1724 Page 2 January 3, 2018 The City may file a request for reconsideration of this determination within ten business days of the date of this determination letter. Sincerely, ~~ Supervisor of Records cc: Erica Scott