Gerard F. Mackin, Jr. v. Saugus, Town of (SPR 20201718)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records September 30, 2020 SPR20/1718 Christine Moreschi Records Access Officer Town of Saugus 298 Central Street Saugus, MA 01906 Dear Ms. Moreschi: I have received the petition of Gerard Mackin appealing the response of the Town of Saugus (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Mr. Mackin requested records pertaining to identified litigation. In a September 14, 2020 response the Town advised Mr. Mackin that the Town Hall does not have the information he requested, and that he needs to contact the School Administration for documents regarding the School Department and School Committee. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Mr. Mackin petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and this appeal was opened. In a September 30th telephone call, an attorney in the Public Records Division contacted the Saugus School Superintendent’s Office regarding this request, and spoke with Lisa Manning, the Superintendent’s Administrative Assistant. A copy of Mr. Mackin’s request was also forwarded to the Superintendent’s Office. By email on September 30, 2020, the Superintendent’s ffice provided the Public Records Division with a September 28, 2020 response sent to Mr. Mackin from Superintendent Dr. David DeRuosi. Dr. DeRuosi informed Mr. Mackin that it has no records in the School’s possession responsive to his requests. Under the Public Records Law, the records custodian is not required to create any record in response to a public records request. The duty to comply with requests for information extends only to those records that exist and are in the custody of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 4, § 7(26); see also 32 Op. Att’y Gen. 157, 165 (May 18, 1977). However, I find it is unclear whether responsive records existed and were permissibly destroyed or responsive records never existed. The Town must clarify this issue. 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

Christine Moreschi SPR20/1718 Page 2 September 30, 2020 Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Mackin with a response to the request, 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, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Gerard Mackin Dr. David DeRuosi