Kristian Rondeau v. Spencer, Town of (SPR 20191206)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records July l, 2019 SPR19/1206 Rebecca Forand Interim Treasurer/Collector Town of Spencer 157 Main Street Spencer, MA 01562 Dear Ms. Forand: I have received the petition of Kristian Rondeau appealing the response of the Town of Spencer (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § JOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Ms. Rondeau sent a request to the Town requesting "book keeping records." The Town provided a response to Ms. Rondeau on May 6, 2019. In a letter this office received on May 15, 2019, Ms. Rondeau appealed the Town's response to this office. The Town provided another response to Ms. Rondeau on May 20, 2019. Ms. Rondeau appealed the Town's May 201 h response. Appeal 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 of receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § IO(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, § 1O (b ). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. 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 of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § IO(a)(ii), (b)(ii). Also, the duty to comply with requests for records extends to identifying the agency or municipality that may be in possession, custody, or control of the public record sought, if known. See G. L. c. 66, § IO(b)(iii). 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, § I O(b )(iv) (written response must "identify any records, categories of records or pmiions of records that the agency 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 ... "); 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 One Ashbmion Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre • pre@sec.state.ma.us

Rebecca Forand SPR19/1206 Page 2 July 1, 2019 burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). In Ms. Rondeau's appeal, she explained that she "made a reasonable description of the record sought by providing a page of the record which was requested." The Town provided a supplemental response on June 26, 2019. It states that the Town has "provided many copies of statements in regards to [Ms. Rondeau's] address at 40 South Spencer which shows amounts due and payments applied, etc. Pages 1-64 is just a number our computer system Munis puts on the bottom of a search inquiry screen." The Town fmiher explains "[t]o provide [Ms. Rondeau] with 1-64 pages is not something [the Town] can recreate. If [Ms. Rondeau] would like specific document, [Ms. Rondeau] will need to provide the name of the document requested." 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 of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii), (b)(ii). Also, the duty to comply with requests for records extends to identifying the agency or municipality that may be in possession, custody, or control of the public record sought, if known. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(b) (iii). Conclusion 1 Based on the Town's June 26h supplemental response, I find the Town has met its burden in responding to Ms. Rondeau's request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii), (b)(ii)(iii). However, I encourage Ms. Rondeau and the Town to communicate fmiher to enable Ms. Rondeau to clarify the public records she is seeking. I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Kristian Rondeau