Ramona Caruso v. Norwell, Town of Police Department (SPR 20190775)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords April 30, 2019 SPR19/775 Patricia M. Anderson Norwell Town Clerk 345 Main Street Norwell, MA 02061 Stoughton, MA 02072 Dear Patricia 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, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically on October 18, 2018, Ms. Caruso requested: • A list of any and all lawsuits that have involved the Town of Norwell for the last ten years; • A list of all legal expenses paid by the Town of Norwell for lawsuits that the Town of Norwell has been a plaintiff or defendant in for the last 10 years; • A list of legal settlements referencing the payees and the dollar amounts paid by the Town of Norwell for the last 10 years. Previous Appeal This request was the subject of a previous case. See SPR18/1553 (November 6, 2018). I closed SPR18/1553 by ordering the Town to provide a supplemental response to the requestor, in a manner consistent with the order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations without delay. It is my understanding that that the Town provided Ms. Caruso with a response dated January 9, 2019. In the January 9th response, Peter Morin, the Town Administer, states, "[p]lease find attached a document prepared in response to your request. For each fiscal year between 2009 and 2018, there is a list ofthe amount expended for legal services by the Town and by the School Department." In response to the Town's January 9th letter, Ms. Caruso writes, "the Settlement Payee section is missing almost all of the information that was requested and also there is no yearly detail." 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

Patricia M. Anderson SPR19/775 Page 2 April 30, 2019 In a follow-up email dated January 10, 2019, Mr. Morin writes, "I provided you with the legal expenses for each fiscal year for both the Town and the School departments and after a search through different financial databases a list of all payments relating to settlements for the last ten years." Unsatisfied with this response, Ms. Caruso petitioned this office and as a result SPRl 9/775 was opened. Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 1 O(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507,511 (1995) ( custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. Current Appeal In a letter to this office dated April 16, 2019, Ms. Caruso writes, "Mr. Rull stated to me on 1/24/19 that the requested public records would be provided, that he had spoken to the town administrator, Peter Morin and that the records would be sent to me. I never did receive the records requested. I did previously receive records in response to my appeal SPR18-1~53, but they were not complete (missing information) and I am appealing on that basis." Conclusion Please be advised, 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). Although the Town states they provided Ms. Caruso "with the legal expenses for each fiscal year for both the Town and the School departments and after a search through different financial databases a list of all payments relating to settlements for the last ten years", it remains unclear if the Town possesses any other records responsive to Ms. Caruso's request. Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Ms. Caruso with a supplemental 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

Patricia M. Anderson SPR19/775 Page 3 April 30, 2019 Please be advised, failure to do so may result in referral of this matter to the Office of the Attorney General (AGO). See G. L. c. 66, § lOA(b ). Sincerely, ~~ Supervisor of Records cc: Ramona Caruso Peter Morin John Rull