Allison Jenkins v. Hamilton Town Manager (SPR 20190792)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords May 2, 2019 SPR19/0792 Andrea J. Dello Russo Town Clerk Hamilton Town Hall P.O. Box 429 Hamilton, MA 01936 Dear Ms. Dello Russo: I have received the petition from Allison Jenkins appealing the response from the Town of Hamilton Town Clerk (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Jenkins requested records relating to "all documents signed and or certified in person or via stamp by Board of registrar members ( as registrars) for any election, nomination papers, census filings, the VRIS system since 6/1/2018." The Town provided a response on April 17, 2019 stating "[t]here are no other documents then the nominations papers done in 2019 that have already been submitted prior. The state has no form to provide, they did however state that user HAILJG certified Andrea's nomination papers in 2017." Ms. Jenkins appealed the Town's response to this office on April 17, 2019. ih In Ms. Jenkin' April 1 petition, she lists a number ofrequirements of the Board of Registrars and contends that given this she is unsure how there are no additional responsive records from the requested time period. Subsequent to the intervention by a member of the Public Records Division staff, the Town responded via email on May 2, 2019 that "there are no other documents then the ones sent for 2019." In light of the Town's response and Ms. Jenkins' claim, I find it is unclear why additional responsive records have not been provided. Specifically, the Town must explain whether the requested records existed and were destroyed, or whether the records did not initially exist. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a )(ii), (b )(ii). If such records were destroyed, the Town must demonstrate whether it followed proper records retention protocol. Please note, the Town must institute safeguards to ensure that all records are retained in accordance with both applicable law as well as the retention schedules promulgated by this office. G. L. c. 66, §§ 1, 8, 13, 15. I advise the Town to review the Records Retention Manual, available online at www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcrmu/rmuidx.htm. 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

Andrea J. Dello Russo SPR19/0792 Page 2 May 2, 2019 Conclusion Accordingly, the Town must is ordered to provide Ms. Jenkins with a response provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations 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, ~ u r r ~ Supervisor of Records cc: Allison Jenkins