Peter Butler v. Massachusetts Office of the Comptroller (SPR 20190897)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records May 8, 2019 SPR19/0897 Katie Kendall Director of Special Projects Office of the Comptroller of the Commonwealth One Ashburton Place Boston, MA 02108 Dear Ms. Kendall: I have received your petition on behalf of the Office of the Comptroller of the Commonwealth (Office) seeking an extension of time to produce records. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, the Office furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). Specifically, on April 22, 2019, Peter Butler requested "a list of checks issued by the State of Massachusetts of since January 1, 2017 that are now over six months old and considered stale-dated/ outstanding/ uncashed and in the amount of $3,000.00 or greater." Petitions for an extension of time Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 30 business days. In determining whether there has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) efforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. 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

Katie Kendall SPR19/0897 Page2 May 8, 2019 G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). Current Petition In its May 3, 2019 petition, the Office is "asking for an extension." They Office explains it "has been working on this request" and "[w]e need more time in order to compile and review the report to make sure that the data is accurate." The Office indicates "[w]e anticipate being able to provide the report by next Friday, May 10th." In light of the Office's May 3rd petition, I find it is unnecessary to opine on the Office's extension request because it intends to provide responsive records within fifteen (15) business days of the receipt of the request as allowed in G. L. c. 66 § lO(b)(vi). Conclusion For the reasons discussed above, I find it is unnecessary to opine on the Office's extension request because it intends to provide responsive records within fifteen (15) business days of the receipt of the request as allowed in G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(vi). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Peter Butler