Stanley Mazurczyk v. Chelmsford, Town of - Chief Assessor (SPR 20181011)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records July 24, 2018 SPRlS/1011 Paul Cohen Department RAO Town Manager Department Town of Chelmsford 50 Billerica Road Chelmsford, MA O1 824 Dear Mr. Cohen: I have received the petition of Stanley Mazurczyk appealing the response of the Town of Chelmsford (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R:. 32.08(1). Specifically, on March 12, 2018, Mr. Mazurczyk requested "copies of 'written forms' you received since September 5, 2014" described as "[a]llegations of Police misconduct, civilian complaint, and reports filed against Chelmsford Police officers are received in written form." On June 21, 2018, the Town provided a response to Mr. Mazurczyk in response to the Supervisor of Records' order. See SPR18/772 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (June 12, 2018). Previous appeal This request was the subject of two previous appeals. See SPRl 8/424 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (April 10, 2018); See SPRl 8/772 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (June 12, 2018). In my June 12th determination I ordered the Town to provide a revised fee estimate in a manner consistent with the order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. The Town responded on June 21, 2018 with documents relating to the request and waived any fee associated with segregation and redaction. 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). 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

Paul Cohen SPR18/1011 Page 2 July 24, 2018 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. Current appeal In my June lih order I found it was unclear how portions ofresponsive records constitute Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) under the new statutory CORI definition. In Mr. Mazurczyk's appeal he indicates the Town provided him with "non responsive records" as well as "cited the Criminal Offender Records Information (CORI) act to denying records." As previously noted, an updated definition of CORI is currently in effect. CORI is defined as: [R]ecords and data in any communicable form compiled by a Massachusetts criminal justice agency which concern an identifiable individual and relate to the nature or disposition of a criminal charge, an arrest, a pre-trial proceeding, other judicial proceedings, previous hearings conducted pursuant to section 58A of chapter 276 where the defendant was detained prior to trial or released with conditions under subsection (2) of section 58A of chapter 276, sentencing, incarceration, rehabilitation, or release. Such information shall be restricted to information recorded in criminal proceedings that are not dismissed before arraignment. Criminal offender record information shall not include evaluative information, statistical and analytical reports and files in which individuals are not directly or indirectly identifiable, or intelligence information ... Criminal offender record information shall not include information concerning any offenses which are not punishable by incarceration G. L. C. 6, § 167. Based on the Town's response it is unclear how responsive records constitute CORI under the new definition. Therefore, the Town has not established a justification for withholding the requested records. A member of the Public Records Division staff reached out to the Town and the Town indicated it is willing to provide Mr. Mazurczyk with a supplemental response. Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide a supplemental response consistent with this

Paul Cohen SPR18/1011 Page 3 July 24, 2018 order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Stanley Mazurczyk