Joseph McNichols v. Registry of Deeds - Norfolk County (SPR 20181482)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords October 19, 2018 SPRlS/1482 Marguerite L. Lee Second Assistant Register Norfolk County Registry of Deeds 649 High Street Dedham, MA 02026 Dear Ms. Lee: 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. Previous appeals This request was the subject of previous appeals. See SPR18/1397; SPR18/1400 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (October 2, 2018). I closed SPR18/1397 and SPR18/1400 in light of the Registry's September 27, 2018 response that provided records regarding IT protocols, policies, and procedures. Mr. McNichols appealed and SPRl 8/1482 was opened as a result. 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. 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

Marguerite E. Lee SPR18/1482 Page 2 October 19, 2018 Current appeal In his current appeal petitions Mr. McNichols indicates "[f]or the above reasons I would ask that Register William O'Donnell produce the requested public records that are in the possession of Registry Records Access Officer Marguerite Lee." Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, the Registry provided a supplemental response on October 17, 2018 on which Mr. McNichols was copied. In this response you reference the records the Registry previously produced to Mr. McNichols, specifically, "Norfolk County Policy and Procedure, Subject: Computer Usage," "Proposed Policy, Norfolk County," and "IT Approval and Oversight Policy (Proposed)." You assert that "[a]s the Records Access Officer I declare that these are the only records in our custody and/or control responsive to the requestor's June 27, 2018 request." I understand that you informed a Public Records Division staff attorney that the Registry is not withholding records under any exemptions. Under the Public Records Law, the Registry is not required to create a record in response to a public records request. See G. L. c. 66, § 6A(d). 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, § IO(a)(ii). Therefore, in light of its September 2ih and October 1i h responses, I find the Registry has met its burden in responding to this request. Accordingly, I will consider this appeal closed. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Joseph M. McNichols