Maya Shaffer v. Massachusetts State Police (SPR 20181399)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records October 1, 2018 SPRlS/1399 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, § 1 OA; 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 requested correspondence between the Department and ICE relating to immigration. The Department provided a response letter on September 19, 2018 which Ms. Shaffer appealed 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, § 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, § 1 O(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, § lO(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, 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 SPR18/1399 Pg. 2 October 1, 2018 including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based." G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b )(iv). Any non-exempt, segregable portion of a public record is subject to mandatory disclosure. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(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 Ms. Shaffer "the Department of State Police conducted a search of all Fusion Center employee email accounts for search terms connected to your initial request. No responsive emails were found." 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, § 10(a )(ii) (b) (ii). If Ms. Shaffer still believes that there are records in the Department's possession related to her requests, she should provide the Department with a more detailed description of the records she wishes to obtain. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(i). An agency shall 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 municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(vii). Conclusion Further, in light of the Department's September 19th response, I find the Department has met its burden in responding to this request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(ii)(iii). Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Maya Shaffer