Christopher Donovan v. Norwood, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20181613)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth · Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords November 9, 2018 SPRlS/1613 Karis L. North Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane LLP Town of Norwood 300 Crown Colony Drive, Suite 410 P.O. Box 9126 Quincy, MA 02169-9126 Dear Attorney North: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Norwood (Town) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of a requested record, or any portion thereof. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). Mr. Donovan requested a number of public records from the Town. Mr. Donovan appealed the response of the Town, and SPR18/1465 was opened as a result. In SPR18/1465, the Town was "ordered to provide a response in a manner consistent with this determination, the Public Record Law, and its Regulation within ten business days." See SPR18/1465 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (October 18, 2018). 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 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

Suzanne Travis SPR18/062 Page 2 January 23, 2018 (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requester within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4 )(b ). Current petition In the petition submitted on November 11, 2018, the Town "respectfully request[s] an additional week in which to complete Norwood's response." The Town explains it has been working on the response but has been "delayed by the press of other deadlines and town meetings." Conclusion In light of the fact the Town has subsequently indicated a response is forthcoming, I will not opine on the Town's petition for an extension of time to furnish responsive records. The Town is advised it must provide the response without delay in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. The requestor may appeal the substantive nature of the Town's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Christopher Donovan