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Andrew P. Cowan v. Natick, Town of (SPR 20180082)

Massachusetts Public Records Appeal · Public records appeal decision · Filed 01-19-2018

ClosedAppealDecision

SPR 20180082 is a Massachusetts Public Records Law appeal filed by Andrew P. Cowan concerning records held by Natick, Town of, opened 01-19-2018. Type: Appeal. Status: Closed. Supervisor of Public Records determination: Public records appeal decision.

Case Details

Case Number
20180082
Case Type
Appeal
Case Subtype
Initial
Status
Closed
Requester
Andrew P. Cowan
Custodian
Natick, Town of
Date Opened
01-19-2018
Date Closed
01-19-2018
Date Request Submitted
12-29-2017
Processing Fees Charged
0.00
Petitions Regarding Fees
No
Time to Comply
2 Business Days (1-23-18)
Went to Court
No

PDF Document

Extracted Text (searchable & copyable)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division

Rebecca S, Murray Supervisor of Records

January 19, 2018

SPR18/082 Diane Packer

Town Clerk

Town of Natick

13 East Central Street Natick, MA 01760

Dear Ms. Packer:

I have received the petition of Andrew Cowan appealing the nonresponse of the Town of Natick (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Attorney Cowan requested “any and all contracts, agreements, memos of understanding, or policy documents relating to the sharing of Natick Police reports with LexisNexis, RELX Group, Reed Elsevier, or generally with data brokers or background check companies.” Claiming to not yet have received a response, Attorney Cowan petitioned this office and this appeal was opened as a result.

Subsequent to the intervention by a staff member of the Public Records Division, I learned that the proper agent for handling public record requests never saw the inquiry. Nonetheless, after the Town was made aware of this appeal, a representative within the Town noted their willingness to provide a response. Accordingly, the Town is hereby ordered to provide a response to Attorney Cowan made in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order within ten business days. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Attorney Cowan may appeal the substantive nature of the Town’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

Sincerely,

Rebecca S. a Mussa

Supervisor of Records cc: Andrew P. Cowan, Esq.

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