Melanie Powers v. Essex County Sheriff's Department (SPR 20192383)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords December 2, 201·9 SPR19/2383 William Raynard Essex County Sheriffs Department P.O. Box 807 20 Manning Ave. Middleton, MA 01949-2807 Dear Mr. Raynard: I have received the petition of Melanie Powers appealing the response of the Essex County Sheriffs Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66> § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Powers requested: "a copy of the completed unredacted harassment complaint against Darya Maslova and Jason Faro to include notes, recordings and interviews that was conducted by The Essex County Sheriffs Internal Affairs Division that began in August of 2018, and the more recent outside investigation conducted by chief St. Pierre that began in April of this year. I am requesting the entire reports along with the findings and conclusions to include any actions taken as a result of those investigations." The Depaiiment responded to Ms. Powers on November 5, 2019, stating that its investigation found Ms. Powers' allegations unsubstantiated. Tlte Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § IOA(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). 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); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) ( custodian has the burden of 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

William Raynard SPR19/2383 Page 2 December 2, 2019 establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. Current Appeal In her appeal petition, Ms. Powers states that "the letter that was sent made no mention of the records that were requested .... " Subsequent to the intervention of a staff member of the Public Records Division, I learned that a representative from the Department intends on providing a written response to Ms. Powers addressing her public records request. Accordingly, the Depmiment is ordered to provide Ms. Powers a response in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within ten (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, ~ tl'vt1AIWAM _ (J Rebecca S. Mur;;y-" - - Supervisor of Records cc: Melanie Powers