Gregory Smith v. Cape & Islands District Attorney's Office (SPR 20191933)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords October 3, 2019 SPR19/1933 Tara Miltimore, Esq. Records Access Officer Cape and Islands District Attorney's Office 3231 Main Street P.O. Box 455 Barnstable, MA 02630 Dear Attorney Miltimore: I have received the petition from Gregory Smith appealing the response of the Cape & Islands District Attorney's Office (DAO) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Smith sent a request to the DAO seeking records concerning "contact infor." The DAO responded to Mr. Smith on August 28, 2019. Mr. Smith appealed the DAO's response to this office on September 22, 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 ofreceipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(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, § lO(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 ofrecords 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, § lO(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, § lO(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 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

Tara Miltimore, Esq. SPR19/1933 Page 2 October 3, 2019 burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). In Mr. Smith's September 22nd appeal, he states "I requested; specifically, the individual email addresses for these employees." It is unclear if the DAO possesses any records responsive to Mr. Smith's request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii), (b)(ii), (iii). Conclusion Accordingly, the DAO is ordered to provide Mr. Smith with a response provided 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 to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Gregory Smith