David Calhoun v. Plymouth Town Clerk (SPR 20191973)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray S11pen1isor ofR ecords October 3, 2019 SPR19/1973 Connor Anderson Archivist & Records Access Officer Plymouth Town Clerk 26 Court St. Plymouth, MA 02360 Dear Mr. Anderson: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Plymouth (Town) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of the requested public record, or any portion thereof. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, the Town provided a copy of the petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). In a request received by the Town on September 17, 2019, Mr. Calhoun requested "all emails sent or received by the Town Manager, the Assistant Town Manager, and the Administrative Assistant to the Zoning Board of Appeals between August 16, 2019 and August 28, 2019." Petitions for an extension of time Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 30 business days. In determining whether there has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) ~fforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. 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

Connor Anderson SPR19/1973 Page 2 October 3, 2019 G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requester within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b). Current petition In the Town's petition dated September 26, 2019, you indicate "[t]he Town's IT Department produced 1,840 items related to this request. The e-mails must be reviewed for attorney-client privilege before production to Mr. Calhoun." You explain that the Town provided a fee estimate for responsive records and Mr. Calhoun paid this fee on September 18, 2019. Additionally, you indicate "[t]his records request is one of five we have received from Mr. Calhoun since August 28, 2019" and explain that the Assistant Town Manager is out on leave and is not expected to return until mid-October. You further contend that" ... additional time is required in this instance to conduct a necessary privilege review and produce the voluminous e-mails to Mr. Calhoun in light of additional Town business and obligations of this office." The Town initially sought an extension of 30 business days to produce records. Please note that under G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b )(vi) a municipality may identify a reasonable timeframe in which it will produce the public records sought that shall not exceed 25 business days following the initial receipt of the request for public records. Based on a conversation with staff member of the Public Records Division, it is my understanding that the Town will be able to provide responsive records within 25 business days i 11 of receipt of Mr. Calhoun's September 1 request. Accordingly, I find it is unnecessary to opine on the Town's extension request because it intends to provide responsive records within 25 business days of the receipt of the request as allowed in G. L. c. 66 § lO(b )(vi). · Conclusion For the reasons discussed above, I find it is unnecessary to opine on the Town's petition for an extension of time to produce records. The Town must provide the records in a manner consistent with this determination, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations. To the extent feasible, the Town must provide responsive records on a rolling basis. G. L. c. 66, § lO(a) (records must be provided without unreasonable delay).

Connor Anderson SPR19/1973 Page 3 October 3, 2019 Sincerely, !Jr/J)j,_ ~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc:· David Calhoun