Kendra Cooper, Esq. v. Reading, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20200513)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray S11pen1isor of Records March 20, 2020 SPR20/0513 Laura A. Gemme Town Clerk Town of Reading 16 Lowell Street Reading, MA O1 867 Dear Ms. Gemme: I have received the petition of Attorney Kendra Cooper appealing the response of the Department of State Police (Depaiiment) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on February 24, 2020 Attorney Cooper requested "access to the Minutes of the Reading Select Board meeting of February 11, 2020, including, but not limited to, discussion, actions taken and any possible text/email/ electronic messages (through members personal email addresses or phones) received during that meeting by any of the Select Board Members." The Town responded on March 9, 2020, indicating they "did not believe digital communications received through members' pe:rsonal laptops and phones during a meeting were retrievable ... " Unsatisfied with the Town's response, Attorney Cooper petitioned this office and SPR20/05 l 3 was opened as a result. Please be advised, "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). 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, § 1O (a)(ii). Also, in accordance with the Public Records Law, custodians are expected to use their superior knowledge of the records in their custody to assist requestors in obtaining the desired information. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5). Order Subsequent to the intervention by a staff attorney of the Public Records Division, the Town emailed this Office and Attorney Cooper indicating "this office is doing all that is can to provide the records requested with in the time allowed." Accordingly, said response shall be made in a manner 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

Laura A. Gemme SPR20/0513 Page 2 March 20, 2020 consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations as soon as practicable. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Attorney Cooper may appeal the substantive nature of the Town's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Kendra Cooper, Esq.