Roberta Sarnacki v. Otis, Town of (SPR 20192374)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supen>isor of Records December 10, 2019 SPR19/2374 Lyn O'Brien Town of Otis 1 North Main Street Otis, MA 01253 Dear Ms. O'Brien: This office has received a petition from Roberta Sarnacki appealing the response of the Town of Otis (Town) to her September 9, 2019 request for executive session minutes. G. L. c. 66, § lO(b) (Supervisor of Public Records has authority to resolve public records appeals); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2) (appeal process). Please note, the Supervisor of Records may decline to accept an appeal from a requestor where the public records in question are the subject of disputes in active litigation, administrative hearings or mediation. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2)(b)(l). By letter dated December 5, 2019 Town Counsel Jeremia Pollard informed this office that the requested records are related to pending litigation. Berkshire Superior Court Docket No. l 876CV00275. Therefore, this office declines to take any administrative action concerning the appeal at this time. If, at the conclusion of litigation, Ms. Sarnacki still desires access to the records, Ms. Sarnacki is advised to make a new request to the custodian of records. The discovery process and the Public Records Law are two distinct and independent avenues for gaining access to records. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has held that while a party's access to records may be limited by the Public Records Law, this does not preclude obtaining the records through discovery. Commonwealth v. Wanis, 426 Mass. 639 (1998). It may be preferable to obtain some records through discovery, as the Public Records Law permits a custodian of records to redact or withhold information that is exempt from disclosure under the Public Records Law. ~ Rebecca S. Mur~ Supervisor of Records cc: Robe1ia Sarnacki 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