Brad Petrishen v. Worcester City Solicitor's Office (SPR 20201167)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records July 17, 2020 SPR20/1167 Janice E. Thompson, Esq. Assistant City Solicitor City of Worcester Law Department 455 Main Street, Room 301 Worcester, MA 01608 Dear Attorney Thompson: I have received your petition on behalf of the City of Worcester (City) seeking an extension of time to produce records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). As required by law, it is my understanding that the City furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor. Id. In a letter dated June 15, 2020, Brad Petrishen requested: 1. All reports of Bureau of Professional Standards investigations that were completed between January 1, 2019 and June 15, 2020. 2. For all Bureau of Professional Standards investigations opened after January 1, 2019 but not yet completed, all complaints, referrals, or other communications that led to such investigations. Petition 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) efforts 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 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

SPR20/1167 Janice E. Thompson Page 2 July 17, 2020 (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). If the Supervisor determines that the request is part of a series of contemporaneous requests that are frivolous or designed to intimidate or harass, and the requests are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity, the Supervisor may grant a longer extension or relieve the agency or municipality of its obligation to provide copies of the records sought. Id. The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requestor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b). Current Petition In its July 13, 2020, petition, the City requests “the Supervisor to grant the City of Worcester’s petition for additional time with respect to Brad Petrishen’s request for public records.” The City indicates, “[t]he requested records are not maintained electronically; in order to fulfill the request it was necessary to locate each paper file. The City has now located approximately 60 files which may be responsive. These files have been scanned by administrative staff to permit review and disclosure.” The City adds, “although the public records law permits a ‘reasonable fee for the publication of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection’ M.G.L. c. 66 § 10(d), the City declined to petition the Supervisor of Records to assess fees for the search, review and segregation of records responsive to the request, and the City waived the fees associated with statutory redactions.” The City posits it “is acting in good faith to complete the tasks associated with responding to this request. However it is beyond the capabilities and resources of the City to assign an employee to work full-time on a single public records request. This would place an undue burden on the City and divert resources away from other essential municipal functions, including but not limited to the fulfillment of other public records requests. Accordingly, it is necessary for the City to seek an extension of time to fulfill Mr. Petrishen’s request.” Conclusion I find the City has established good cause to permit an extension of time. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(c)(i)-(iv). I hereby grant the City an extension of 30 business days to furnish copies of records responsive to Mr. Petrishen’s request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). To the extent possible, the City must provide responsive records on a rolling basis.

SPR20/1167 Janice E. Thompson Page 3 July 17, 2020 Please note, Mr. Petrishen has the right to seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the appropriate superior court. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(4), 10A(c). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Brad Petrishen