Maya Shaffer v. Department of State Police - Commonwealth Fusion Center (SPR 20181188)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords August 22, 2018 SPRlS/1188 Mr. Jason R. Stelmat Privacy Officer Commonwealth Fusion Center Department of State Police 124 Acton Street, 2d Floor Maynard, MA 01754 Dear Mr. Stelmat: I have received the petition from Maya Shaffer appealing the response from the Massachusetts Department of State Police Commonwealth Fusion Center (Department) regarding a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1 ). Originally, Ms. Shaffer sent a request to the Department on June 26, 2018 requesting records pertaining to correspondence between the Department and schools concerning immigration. Additionally, Ms. Shaffer was requesting correspondence between the Department and ICE concerning immigration. The Department provided an acknowledgment response email on July 11, 2018 to Ms. Shaffer asking for clarification of her request. In an email on August 9, 2018, Ms. Shaffer made an appeal to this office stating the Department has failed to produce responsive records regarding her request. Appeal 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 ofreceipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(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, § lO(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, § 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, § 1O (b )(iii). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in 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

Mr. Jason R. Stelmat SPRlS/1188 Pg. 2 August 22, 2018 order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b )(iv) (written response must "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 ... "); 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). It is unclear if the Department possesses the records requested by Ms. Shaffer concerning correspondence. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii) (b)(ii)(iii). Accordingly, the Department is ordered to review the requests made by Ms. Shaffer and provide any requested records in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order 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. Failure to do so may result in referral of this matter to the Office of the Attorney General (AGO). See G. L. c. 66, § 1O A(b ). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Maya Shaffer