Brad Schmidt v. Lawrence Housing Authority (SPR 20181153)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords August 15, 2018 SPRlS/1153 Efrain Rolon Executive Director Lawrence Housing Authority 353 Elm Street Lawrence, MA O1 841 Dear Mr. Rolon: I have received the petition from Brad Schmidt from The Oregonian appealing the response of the Lawrence Housing Authority (Authority) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On July 18, 2018, Mr. Schmidt "[a]ll radon testing results of public housing units conducted by or for the Lawrence Housing Authority." The Authority responded to his request indicating they were "going through the process of 1 researching all of our records." Having received no follow up to their July 18h response, Mr. Schmidt petitioned 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, § IOA(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, § lO(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, § 1 O(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

Efrain Rolon SPR18/1153 Page 2 August 15, 2018 Compliance with the requirements ofp roviding a response The Authority is advised that pursuant to the Public Records Law, a records access officer's (RAO) written response must be provided within ten business days, and must also comply with the criteria listed in the statute. The written response shall be made via first class or electronic mail and shall: (i) confirm receipt of the request; (ii) identify any public records or categories of public records sought that are not within the possession, custody, or control of the agency or municipality that the records access officer serves; (iii) identify the agency or municipality that may be in possession, custody or control of the public record sought, if known; (iv) identify 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, provided that nothing in the written response shall limit an agency's or municipality's ability to redact or withhold information in accordance with state or federal law; (v) identify any public records, categories ofrecords, or portions ofrecords that the agency or municipality intends to produce, and provide a detailed statement describing why the magnitude or difficulty of the request unduly burdens the other responsibilities of the agency or municipality and therefore requires additional time to produce the public records sought; (vi) identify a reasonable timeframe in which the agency or municipality shall produce the public records sought; provided, that for an agency, the timeframe shall not exceed 15 business days following the initial receipt of the request for public records and for a municipality the timeframe shall not exceed 25 business days following the initial receipt of the request for public records; and provided further, that the requestor may voluntarily agree to a response date beyond the timeframes set forth herein; (vii) suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the agency or municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably; (viii) include an itemized, good faith estimate of any fees that may be charged to produce the records; and (ix) include a statement informing the requestor of the right of appeal to the supervisor of records under subsection (a) of section 1O A and the right to seek judicial review of an unfavorable decision by commencing a civil action in the superior court under subsection ( c) of section 1O A. G. L. C. 66, § lO(b).

Efrain Rolon SPR18/1153 Page 3 August 15, 2018 I understand a Public Records Division staff member contacted the Authority about this matter. A representative from the Authority explained they are working with Town Counsel to provide Mr. Schmidt with a supplemental response to his records request. Order Accordingly, the Authority is ordered to provide Mr. Schmidt with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this 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: Brad Schmidt