Joseph McNichols v. Registry of Deeds - Norfolk County (SPR 20181397)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Record1i October 2, 2018 SPRlS/1397; SPRlS/1400 The Honorable William P. O'Donnell Register of Deeds Norfolk County Registry of Deeds 649 High Street Dedham, MA 02026 Dear Register O'Donnell: I have received the petition of Joseph M. McNichols appealing the response of the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds (Registry) to requests for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. McNichols requested various IT protocols, policies, and procedures. The Registry responded on July 5, 2018 and July 10, 2018 and Mr. McNichols appealed. Due to the similar nature of the requests and responses involved in these appeals, I will address both SPR18/1397 and SPR18/1400 in this determination. 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). 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. Appeal In his appeal petitions Mr. McNichols indicates that he did not receive responsive records. Subsequent to the opening of these appeals, the Registry provided a supplemental response on September 27, 2018 to which Mr. McNichols was copied. This response contains 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

William P. O'Donnell SPR18/1397; SPR18/1400 Page2 October 2, 2018 additional information regarding the Registry's previous responses. The Registry also provided Mr. McNichols the following documents: "Proposed Policy, Norfolk County," "IT Approval and Oversight Policy," and "[t]hree Policies dealing with computer usage, internet and electronic and voicemail." It is my determination that in light of the September 2i11 response from the Registry that provides records regarding IT protocols, policies, and procedures, this appeal is closed. Sincerely, ~~--a Rebecca S. Murra; --- -- Supervisor of Records cc: Joseph M. McNichols