Jennifer Luiz v. Dighton, Town of - Board of Selectmen (SPR 20190107)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords January 25, 2019 SPR19/0107 Sue Medeiros Dighton Town Clerk/RAO Town of Dighton 79 Somerset A venue Dighton, MA 02715 Dear Ms. Medeiros: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Dighton (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). As required by law, the Town furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor. Specifically, on December 12, 2018, Jennifer Luiz requested "all meeting minutes that have been approved by the Board of Selectman but not uploaded to the Towns website." 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 (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. 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

Sue Medeiros SPR19/107 Page2 January 25, 2019 G. L. c. 66 § IO(c). If the Supervisor determines that the request is part of a series of contemporaneous requests that are frivolous or designed to intimidate or harass, and the requests are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity, the Supervisor may grant a longer extension or relieve the agency or municipality of its obligation to provide copies of the records sought. Id. The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requestor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b). Open Meeting Law The relief the Town requests is outside the scope of statutory authority given to the Supervisor under the Public Records Law. The Town is advised that the interpretation of the Open Meeting Law falls within the authority of the Office of the Attorney General and not this office. Therefore, I decline to opine on this petition. It is recommended that you contact the Division of Open Government within the Office of the Attorney General should you seek a determination on this issue. Sincerely, ~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Jennifer Luiz