Maya Shaffer v. Massachusetts State Police (SPR 20181410)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records September 27, 2018 SPR18/1410 Siobhan E. Kelly Staff Counsel Office of Chief Legal Counsel Massachusetts State Police 470 Worcester Road Framingham, MA 01702 Dear Attorney Kelly: I have received your petition on behalf of the Department of State Police (Department) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of a requested record, or any portion thereof. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, the Department furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). Specifically, on September 7, 2018 Maya Shaffer requested various policy documents related to records requests and IA files, as well as documents related to requests she has made in the last three months. Petitions for an extension of time Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 30 business days. In determining whether there has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) efforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. 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

Siobhan E. Kelly, Esq. SPR18/1410 Page 2 September 27, 2018 G. L. c. 66 § lO(c). If the Supervisor determines that the request is part of a series of contemporaneous requests that are frivolous or designed to intimidate or harass, and the requests are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity, the Supervisor may grant a longer extension or relieve the agency or municipality of its obligation to provide copies of the records sought. Id. The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requestor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b). Current petition In the petition, you indicate the Department is "a 5 day extension to September 27, 2018" and the "extension was denied by Ms. Shaffer." The Department indicates there are "[a]mong the responsive documents are over 300 pages of emails." The Department explains they require "additional time to review the 300 plus pages of responsive documents and make the appropriate redactions and to determine what portions of each email are exempt pursuant to attorney client privilege and/or are attorney work product." Conclusion I find it unnecessary to opine on the Department's extension request because it intends to provide responsive records within fifteen business days ofreceipt of the request as allowed in G. L. c. 66, § 10 (b)(vi). The records must be provided in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. Ms. Shaffer may appeal the substantive nature of the City's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Maya Shaffer