Ryan Kath v. Boston, City of - Public Records (SPR 20181497)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords October 25, 2018 SPRlS/1497 Shawn Williams, Esq. Public Records Access Officer Boston City Hall 1 City Hall Sq. Room 615 Boston, MA 02201 Dear Attorney Williams: I have received the petition from Ryan Kath of NBC 10 News appealing the nomesponse of the City of Boston (City) regarding a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Originally, Mr. Kath sent a request to the City on August 21, 2018 requesting "a copy of the City of Boston's internal investigation into a drowning at the Curley Center in July 2016." The City provided an acknowledgment response email on September 6, 2018 to Mr. Kath. In an email on October 11, 2018, Mr. Kath made an appeal to this office stating the City has not produced responsive records. Appeal 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, § lO(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 ofrecords 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). 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, § 1 O(b )(iv) (written response must "identify 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 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

Shawn Williams, Esq. SPR18/1497 Pg. 2 October 25, 2018 exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based ... "); 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). It is unclear if the City possesses the records requested by Mr. Kath concerning the internal investigation related to the drowning at the Curley Center in July 2016. See G. L. c. 66, § 1 O(a)(ii), (b )(ii), (iii). 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). If the records are within the City's possession and they intend to withhold the documents an exemption must be provided as stated above. See G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b )(iv) ( custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). Accordingly, the City is ordered to review the requests made by Mr. Kath and provide any requested records in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order within ten business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Ryan Kath