Ramona Caruso v. Norwell, Town of Police Department (SPR 20181553)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Calvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray St~peivisoro f Records November 6,20 18 SPR1811553 Patricia M. Anderson Norwell Town Clerk 345 Main Street Nonvell, MA 02061 Dear Ms. Anderson: I have received the petition of Ramona Caruso appealing the response of the Town of Norwell (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, 5 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Caruso requested various categories of records concerning legal disputes. The Town provided certain records and Ms. Caruso appealed, noting that "I had asked for not only a list of the litigation but the expenses and legal settlements. . . ." der 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 10(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. Subsequent to the intervention by a staff member of this Division, I learned that the Town is in the process of providing Ms. Caruso a supplemental response to her request for records. This response must confirm whether it possesses additional responsive records. 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, 5 lO(a)(ii). To the extent that additional records exist, they must be provided in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 66, 5 1O (b). Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Ms. Caruso with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations without delay. 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. One Ashburton Place, Room 171 9, Boston, Massachusetts 02 108 (6 17) 727-2832. Fax: (617 ) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre pre@sec.state.ma.us

Patricia M. Anderson Page 2 November 6,201 8 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Ramona Caruso Peter Morin