Amy L. Codagnone, Esq. v. Springfield, City of - Public Schools (SPR 20191769)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor o,/'Records September 11, 2019 SPR19/1769 Andrea L. Stone Public Records Coordinator City of Springfield- City Clerk's Office 36 Court St., Room 123 Springfield, MA O1 103 Dear Ms. Stone: I have received a petition from Amy Codagnone, Esq. appealing the denial of the City of Springfield City Clerk's Office (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Attorney Codagnone requested "police reports, ballistics reports, crime laboratory receipts, reports, and chain of custody documentation, including notes, referencing [Attorney Codagnone's] client." The City provided a response to Attorney Codagnone on August 15, 2019. This office received a letter from Attorney Codagnone on August 29, 2019 requesting an appeal. The Public Records Law 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 ofreceipt 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, § IO(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. 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, § 1O (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 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). 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

Ms. Andrea L. Stone SPRI9/1769 Page 2 September 11, 2019 Appeal The City's August 15th response to Attorney Codagnone said to "[p]lease contact the Massachusetts Department of Criminal Justice Information Services." The City explained that the "Department of Criminal Justice Infonnation Services (DCJIS) is confetTed with the authority to promulgate and interpret regulations regarding CORI. G. L. c. 6, § 168. DCJIS interprets the 'initiation of criminal proceedings' to be the point when a criminal investigation is sufficiently complete that the investigating officers take actions toward bringing a specific suspect to court." It is unclear what exemption the City cited when withholding documents. If the City intends to withhold documents pursuant to the Public Records Law, an exemption must be provided. See G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b )(iv) ( custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption and provide the specific reasons for such withholding, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based). Accordingly, the City is ordered to review the requests made by Attorney Codagnone and provide any requested records in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order within ten 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, Rebecca S. Mtmay Supervisor of Records cc: Amy Codagnone, Esq.