William McDonagh v. Plymouth County Correctional Facility (SPR 20190791)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords April 30, 2019 SPR19/0791 Patrick Lee, Esq. Plymouth County Sheriff's Department 24 Long Pond Road Plymouth, MA 02360 Dear Attorney Lee: I have received a petition from William McDonagh appealing the response of the Plymouth County Sheriff's Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. McDonagh requested eight categories of records, including "a copy of the Occupancy permit ... for the last ten years" and submitted questions related to specification of cells, bedding, bunk beds, policy for assigning beds, overcrowding, etc. Previous appeal This request was the subject to a previous appeal based on the Department's nomesponse. See SPR19/0699 Determinations of the Supervisor of Records (April 10, 2019). This office closed SPRl 9/0699 with the determination that the Department provided a response dated March 28, 2019. Mr. McDonagh was informed of his right to appeal the substantive nature of the Department's response. Unsatisfied with the Department's response, Mr. McDonagh appealed the Department's March 28th response, and SPR19/0791 was opened as a result. Public Records Law Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten business days ofreceipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)-(b). The response may contain, among other things, an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. G. L. c. 66, § lO(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. When withholding requested records, a records custodian is required to provide a response that identifies "any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency 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

Patrick Lee, Esq. SPR19/0791 Page2 April 30, 2019 or municipality intends to withhold, and provide the specific reasons for such withholding, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based." G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b )(iv). Any non-exempt, segregable portion of a public record is subject to mandatory disclosure. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a); Reinstein v. Police Comm'r of Boston, 378 Mass. 281, 289- 90 (1979) (the statutory exemptions are narrowly construed and are not blanket in nature). Appeal In the Department's March 28th response to Mr. McDonagh, the Department produced documents responsive to the request and stated "the Department does not have records responsive to your other inquiries." 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), (b)(ii). Conclusion I find the basis of Mr. McDonagh's appeal is unclear. For example, it is unclear if Mr. McDonagh is requesting public records or is asking the Department a series questions. Please note, the Department is not required to create a record in response to a public records request. See G. L. c. 66, § 6A(d ). Mr. McDonagh may resubmit an appeal to this office once the appeal has been clarified. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(±) (all petitions for appeal shall be in writing and shall specifically describe the nature of the requestor's objections to the response or failure to provide a timely response). I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Mr. McDonagh may appeal the substantive nature of the Department's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1 ). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: William McDonagh