Todd Feathers v. Lowell, City of - City Solicitor (SPR 20180237)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords March 9, 2018 SPR18/237 James F. Wellock, Esq. City of Lowell - Law Department 375 Merrimack Street, 3r Floor Lowell, MA 01852 Dear Attorney Wellock: I have received the petition of Todd Feathers of The Lowell Sun appealing the nonresponse of the City of Lowell Law Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Feathers requested records pertaining to "[c ]opies of all presentment letters and settlement memorandums regarding settlements that were reached by the city in calendar year 20 17" as well as "[c ]opies of all police department internal affairs investigation reports completed during calendar year 2017." Not having received a response, Mr. Feathers appealed to this office. The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA( d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 1 O(b )(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b )(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. 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

James F. Wellock, Esq. SPR18/237 Page2 March 9, 2018 Order Despite a letter sent acknowledging the opening of this appeal and communications from the Public Records Division staff, no response has been provided to this request. Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Feathers with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (10) business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this respcmse to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Todd Feathers