Maya Shaffer v. Massachusetts State Police (SPR 20181450)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Recovds October 9,201 8 SPR18/1450 Siobhan E. Kelly, Esq. Office of Chief Legal Counsel Massachusetts State Police 470 Worcester Road Framingham, MA 0 1702 Dear Attorney Kelly: I have received the petition of Maya Shaffer appealing the response of the Massachusetts Department of State Police (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, 5 10A; see 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Shaffer requested documents on September 7,2018 concerning IA files. On September 27,2018, Ms. Shaffer appealed to this office concerning the Department's "failure to respond in the 10 days business days" to her request. 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, 5 1O (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, 5 10(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, fj 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, 5 10(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, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based." G. L. c. 66, 5 10(b)(iv). Any non-exempt, segregable portion of a public record is subject to mandatory disclosure. See G. L. c. 66, 5 10(a); Reinstein v. Police Comm'r of Boston, 378 Mass. 28 1, 289- 90 (1979) (the statutory exemptions are narrowly construed and are not blanket in nature). 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. Page 2 October 9,201 8 Appeal As stated above, the Department must response to all public records requests within 10 business days. G. L. c. 66, 5 10(a)-(b). G. L. c. 66, 5 10(e) provides that "[a] records access officer shall not charge a fee for a public record unless the records access officer responded to the requestor within 10 business days under subsection (b)." The Department provided a response to Ms. Shaffer's request on September 19,2018 asking to clarify her request. Although this response to Ms. Shaffer was within 10 business days, it is unclear whether it satisfied the provisions of G. L. c. 66, tj 10(b). G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(i), (iv), (vii)-(ix). Subsequent to the intervention by a member of the Public Records Division staff, this office was notified on September 27,2018 that a response was provided to Ms. Shaffer by the Department. Consequently, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Ms. Shaffer See may appeal the substantive nature of the Department's response within ninety days. 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, V Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Maya Shaffer