Ronald Beaty v. Office of the State Auditor (SPR 20190253)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords February 13, 2019 SPR19/253 Michael Ruane, Esq. Deputy General Counsel Office of State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump One Ashburton Place, Room 1819 Boston, MA 02108 Dear Attorney Ruane: I have received your petition on behalf of the Office of the State Auditor (Office) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). On January 24, 2019, Ronald Beaty requested "[f]or the year 2018 ... digital documents which show the cost to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for attendance at political fundraisers and events by Massachusetts State Auditor Suzanne Bump." 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. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). 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

Michael Ruane, Esq. SPR19/253 Page2 February 13, 2019 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 ). Conclusion In an email sent to this office on February 8, 2019, you indicate "the Office of the State Auditor (OSA) responded to this public records request today. Therefore, the OSA hereby withdraws its Petition for Extension, which I filed yesterday February 7, 2019." Accordingly, I find in light of the February gth email in which the Office indicates they have responded to the request, it is unnecessary to opine on the Office's petition. Sincerely, ~.~ Supervisor of Records cc: Ronald Beaty