Irving F. Rounds Jr. v. Clinton, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20191281)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division

Rebecca S, Murray Supervisor of Records

July 10, 2019 SPR19/1281

Jeffrey Notaro

Records Access Officer Clinton Police Department 176 Chestnut St.

Clinton, MA 01510

Dear Officer Notaro:

. I have received the petition of Irving Rounds Jr. appealing the response of the Clinton Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.LR. 32.08(1). Mr. Rounds sent a request to the Department requesting a police report. The Department provided a response to Mr. Rounds on April 27, 2019. In an email on May 7, 2019, Mr. Rounds appealed the Department’s response to this office. The Department provided a supplemental response to Mr. Rounds on June 19, 2019. Mr. Rounds appealed the Department’s supplemental response on June 25, 2019.

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, § 10(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, § 10(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, § 10(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, § 10(b) (ii).

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, § 10(b)(iv) (written response must “identify any records, categories of records or portions 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

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

Officer Jeffrey Notaro SPR19/1281 Pg. 2 July 10, 2019

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).

In the Department’s June 19" supplemental response to Mr. Rounds they explain that they “have looked at [tier] in house computer system and [they] do not have an investigative report on file involving [Mr. Rounds]. There was no contact with the DOJ or any other agency regarding [Mr. Rounds] claims. [They] confirmed this with [their] Detective Bureau and they confirmed this info as well.” The Department further explained that the ‘mandatory disclosure provision of the Public Records Law only applies to information that is in the custody of the Department at the time the request is received. As a result, there is no obligation for a Department to create a record for a requester to honor a request.”

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, § 10(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, § 10(b) (iii). Conclusion

Based on the Department’ s June 19" ,Supprementa's response, | find the > ti. has

will now consider this administrative appeal closed.

Sincerely,

Rebecca S. Murra’ Yebecea. Muar

Supervisor of Records

ce: Irving Rounds Jr.