Tyler Ingraham v. Office of the State Auditor (SPR 20180470)

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

Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records

April 11, 2018 SPR18/470 Michael P. Ruane, Esq.

Assistant General Counsel

Office of the State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump One Ashburton Place, Room 1819

Boston, MA 02108

Dear Attorney Ruane:

I have received your petition on behalf of the Office of the State Auditor (OSA) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of requested records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). As required by law, the OSA furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor. Id. In a request dated March 12, 2018 Attorney Tyler Ingraham requested various records including and pertaining to “OSA’s audit of Gandara Mental Health Center, Inc.”

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 shal! 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.

G. L. c. 66, § 10(c).

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

Michael P. Ruane, Esq. SPR18/470 Page 2 April 11, 2018

The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requester within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b).

Current petition

In your petition dated April 9, 2018, OSA requests “a twenty (20) business day extension, following the receipt of his payment” with “May 4, 2018, as the deadline.” OSA indicates on March 29° 2018, “Attorney Ingraham also consented to an extension of twenty (20) business days, following OSA’s receipt of his payment of OSA’s amended good faith fee estimate, within which OSA must respond to his public records.” Further, OSA indicates “Attorney Ingraham consented to the May 4, 2018 as this deadline. OSA “respectfully requests that the Supervisor of Records adopt the parties’ mutually agreed upon terms of extension until May 4, 2018.”

Conclusion

Accordingly, I find that in light of the requestor’s agreement to the additional time, I find it is unnecessary to opine on OSA’s petition. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vi) (“the requestor may voluntarily agree to a response date beyond the timeframes set forth herein”). OSA is advised it must provide the records in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations within the agreed upon timeframe. Attorney Ingraham may appeal the substantive nature of OSA’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

Sincerely,

Rebecca 8. ca. Mawar,

Supervisor of Records

ce: Tyler Ingraham, Esq.