Glen Ayers v. Department of Conservation and Recreation (SPR 20190547)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records March 21, 2019 SPR19/0547 Ms. Bridget Connelly, Esq. Department of Conservation and Recreation 251 Causeway Street Boston, MA 02114 Dear Attorney Connelly: I have received the petition of Glen Ayers appealing the partial nomesponse of the Department of Conservation and Recreation (Department) to a request for public records, G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1 ). Specifically, Mr. Ayers requested various records related to the "MA Administrative Procedures Act and Clear Identification of Process Available to the Public Under 801 CMR 1: Standard Adjudicatory Rules." The request was broken down into subsections A. through G. January 9th Response On January 9th, Attorney Connelly responded to Mr. Ayers, informing him that for requests E. and G., "after a reasonable search [they] have determined that [the Department] does not have any responsive records within its possession, custody, or control." She also referred him to resources that were potentially responsive and publicly available. Attorney Connelly also noted that the Department would be responding to separately to requests A., B., C., D., and F. On March 14th, having received no further communications from Attorney Connelly regarding his requests, Mr. Ayers petitioned this office and SPRl 9/054 7 was opened as a result. Subsequent to the intervention by a member of the Public Records Division, I learned that the Department provided Mr. Ayers a response to his request. Specifically, Attorney Connelly indicated that "the Department conducted a diligent search; however, no responsive records were identified." Under the Public Records Law, the Department is not required to create a record in response to a public records request. See G. L. c. 66, § 6A(d). 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). 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

Department of Conservation and Recreation SPR19/0547 Page2 March 21, 2019 Conclusion Accordingly, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Glen Ayers