Lana Sullivan v. Lowell, City of - Law Department (SPR 20180046)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 22,20 18 SPR181046 James F. Wellock, Esq. Assistant City Solicitor City of Lowell City Hall, 375 Merrimack Street, 3rdF loor Lowell, MA 01 852 Dear Attorney Wellock: I have received your petition on behalf of the City of Lowell (City) seeking relief from its obligation to produce public records. G. L. c. 66, 5 10(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The City is advised that as required by law, a custodian must furnish a copy of this petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, 8 10(c). Specifically, Attorney Lana Sullivan requested four categories of records related to specific MCAD and EEOC dockets as well as "any purchase orders, non- purchase orders, invoices, bills, payments and/or checks" regarding identified individuals. 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. One Ashburton Place, Room 171 9, Boston, Massachusetts 0210 8 (6 17) 727-2832. Fax: (6 17) 727-59 14 sec.state.ma.us/pre pre@sec.state.ma.us