Eoin Higgins v. Office of the District Attorney - Berkshire District (SPR 20181439)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords September 28, 2018 SPRlS/1439 Joseph A. Pieropan, Esq. Berkshire District Attorney P.O. Box 1969 - 7 North Street Pittsfield, MA O1 202-1969 Dear Attorney Pieropan: I have received your petition on behalf of the Berkshire District Attorney's Office (Office) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of the requested public 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 Office provided a copy of the petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c ). In a request received by the Office on September 12, 2018, Eoin Higgins requested eight categories of records concerning Berkshire District Attorney Paul J. Caccaviello and other named persons. 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. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). 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

Joseph A. Pieropan, Esq. Page 2 September 28, 2018 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 a petition dated September 26, 2018, the Office is seeking an extension of twenty business days to comply with Mr. Higgins' request. In your petition you state, "[i]n addition to searching this Office's records, I have contacted MassIT, this Office's email servicer, to conduct a word search of archived emails. As of this date, Mass IT has not yet responded to my request for assistance." You then write, "[f]or these reasons, I am submitting the instant petition, pursuant to C.M.R. 32.06(4)(a)(d), seeking an extension of time of20 Business days to comply with Mr. Higgins' request." Conclusion I find that in consideration of the volume ofresponsive records and the efforts undertaken by the Office in fulfilling the requests, the Office has established good cause to permit an extension oftime. I hereby grant the Office an extension of a total of twenty (20) business days from the date of this determination to furnish copies of records responsive to Mr. Higgins request. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(e). The Office is advised it must provide the records in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. To the extent possible, the Office must provide responsive records on a rolling basis. Mr. Higgins may seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the superior court under G. L. c. 66, § 1O A( c ). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Eoin Higgins