Steven Fitzgerald v. Everett, City of - Police Department (SPR 20181092)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records August 7,201 8 SPR1811092 Capt. Paul Hamilton City of Everett- Police Department 45 Elm Street Everett, MA 02 149 Dear Capt. Hamilton : I have received the petition from Steven Fitzgerald appealing the response from the City of Everett Police Department (Department) regarding a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, 5 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On June 21,2018, Mr. Fitzgerald made a public records request to the Department. Specifically, Mr. Fitzgerald requested records pertaining to "the June 15,2007 spray-painting of the word "RAT" at a Cleveland Ave address." On July 23,2018, the Department provided Mr. Fitzgerald with a response to his public records request claiming the Department has "no more responsive records." Mr. Fitzgerald appealed the Department's July 23rdr esponse to this office. Public Records Law Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten business days of receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, 5 10(a)-(b). The response may contain, among other things, an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. G. L. c. 66, 5 10(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(a)(ii), (b)(ii). Also, the duty to comply with requests for records extends to identifying the agency or municipality that may be in possession, custody, or control of the public record sought, if known. See G. L. c. 66, 5 10(b) (iii). When withholding requested records, a records custodian is required to provide a response that identifies "any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends to withhold, and provide the specific reasons for such withholding, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based." G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(b)(iv). Any non-exempt, segregable portion of a public record is subject to mandatory 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

Capt. Paul Hamilton Page 2 August 7,20 18 disclosure. See G. L. c. 66, fj 10(a); Reinstein v. Police Comm'r of Boston, 378 Mass. 281,289- 90 (1979) (the statutory exemptions are narrowly construed and are not blanket in nature). Appeal The Department informed Mr. Fitzgerald that the Department has no more records responsive to his request. The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, fj 10(a)(ii) (b)(ii). If Mr. Fitzgerald still believes that there are records in the Department's possession related to his requests, he should provide the Department with a more detailed description of the records he wishes to obtain. See G. L. c. 66, fj lO(a)(i). Conclusion Further, in light of the Department's July 23rdr esponse to Mr. Fitzgerald confirming there are no more responsive records in the Department's possession, I find the Department has met its burden in responding to this request. See G. L. c. 66, fj lO(b)(ii)(iii). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Steven Fitzgerald