Maurice Felder v. Springfield, City of - Public Schools (SPR 20191301)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records July 12, 2019 SPR19/1301 Anthony I. Wilson, Esq. City Clerk City of Springfield 36 Court Street Springfield, MA 01103 Dear Attorney Wilson: I have received the petition of Maurice Felder appealing the response of the City of Springfield (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on April 7, 2019, Mr. Felder requested: I. Any and all financial incentives; Awards; Rents; Groceries; Utilities; Housing, and anything else paid by your office, or any other agency involved in support of [a n identified person]; 2. Any and all records, information, or everything else, in which the D.A., or other city agency provided, and 3. Any videotape/recording ofa confession/testimony from [an identified person]. Prior appeal The requested records were the subject of prior appeal. See SPR19/918 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (May 14, 2019). The City's April 29, 2019 response advised Mr. Felder it had no responsive records, and that he should seek the requested records through the Hampden County District Attorney's Office (District Attorney). In my May 14th determination, I advised the City that 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). Despite the City's April 29th response, I found it was unclear why responsive records have not been provided. Therefore, I ordered the City to explain whether responsive records existed and were destroyed, or whether the records did not initially exist. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii), (b)(ii). 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

Anthony I. Wilson, Esq. SPR19/1301 Page 2 July 12, 2019 Current appeal In its June 13, 2019 response, the City informed Mr. Felder that the City's Police Depmiment (Department) requires additional information to determine whether any of the requested records exist. The City requested that Mr. Felder provide the following: date of birth of the identified person, police arrest report number, and the names of the parties involved in the case(s) pertaining to the requested records. The City also informed Mr. Felder that the District Attorney's Office is not an agency of the City. As a result of the June response, Mr. Felder petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and this appeal was opened. In his petition, Mr. Felder asserts that he cannot provide the additional information that the City seeks because he does not have this information. In a telephone conversation with the City's Public Records Coordinator, Andrea L. Stone, a Public Records Division staff member inquired whether the City could conduct a search to see whether the Department has any files that may contain any of the requested information. It is my understanding that Ms. Stone has reached out to the Department to run a subsequent search, and that the City will provide a supplemental response regarding the additional search for records. Co11cl11sio11 Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Felder with a response to the request, 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 lo send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.rna.us. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Maurice Felder Andrea L. Stone