Thomas Ramos v. Boston, City of - Police Department (SPR 20190785)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords May 1, 2019 SPR19/0785 Shawn Williams, Esq. City of Boston 1 City Hall Plaza, Room 615 Boston, MA 02201 Dear Attorney Williams: I have received the petition of Thomas Ramos regarding a response to a request for public records from the City of Boston (City). G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on January 18, 2019, Mr. Ramos requested "a copy of [their] Tax Title List." On February 4, 2019, the City responded to Mr. Ramos' request, referring Mr. Ramos to a website and informing him that in the future, "should [he] seek specific records from a particular department [he] make [his] request directly to [A ttorney Williams] and [he] would be happy to assist." Previous Appeal On February 5, 2019, Mr. Ramos "forwarded his Public Record Request for a copy of the Tax Title list, as advised, directly to Shawn A. Williams." Having received no response, Mr. Ramos petitioned this office, and SPR19/0571 was opened as a result. See SPR19/0571 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (April 1, 2019). In my April 1st determination, I ordered the City "to provide Mr. Ramos with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (10) business days." Current Appeal In his current appeal petition, Mr. Ramos requested that the Supervisor of Records "require the City to provide a copy of the Public Record as requested ... free of charge." Referencing 950 CMR 32.06(2)(c), Mr. Ramos challenges the City's ability to assess any fee for the production of records, claiming that "the City did not respond to my initial request for Public Records within ten (10) business days, [nor] the additional ten (10) business days provided in your Order to respond." 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

Shawn Williams, Esq. SPR19/0785 Page2 May 1, 2019 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, § 1O (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. Please be advised that G. L. c. 66 § 10(e ) and its corresponding regulation, 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2)(c ), provide that a records access officer shall not charge a fee for the provision of a public record unless the records access officer responded to the requestor within ten business days under M.G.L. c. 66, § 1 O(b ). M.G.L. c. 66, § 1O (b) provides, in part, that "a custodian of a public record shall, within ten days following receipt of a request for inspection or copy of a public record, comply with such request ... " I find that the City must clarify when it intends to produce responsive records. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(vi) (a municipality must identify a reasonable timeframe in which the agency or municipality shall produce the public records sought). Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Ramos a response in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law, its Regulations, and this order within 10 business days. 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. Sincerely, ~ I T ~ Supervisor of Records cc: Thomas Ramos