Joseph Kaufman v. Bourne, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20210392)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records March 2, 2021 SPR21/0392 Debi McCarthy Town of Bourne Police Department 35 Armory Road Buzzards Bay, MA 02532 Dear Ms. McCarthy: I have received the petition of Mr. Joseph Kaufman appealing the response of the Town of Bourne Police Department (Department) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On February 17, 2021, Mr. Kaufman petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) for an appeal pertaining to a February 11, 2021 response by the Department to his request for records. The requirements for an appeal In email communications to Mr. Kaufman on February 17, 2021 and March 2, 2021, this office advised Mr. Kaufman that a copy of his original written request to the Department was required in order to petition the Supervisor for an appeal. Mr. Kaufman is advised when petitioning the Supervisor for an appeal: Such appeal shall be in writing, and shall include a copy of the letter by which the request was made, and a copy of the letter by which the custodian responded. The Supervisor shall accept an appeal only from a person who had made his or her record request in writing. An oral request, while valid as a public record request pursuant to 950 C.M.R. 32.06(1)(a), may not be the basis of an appeal under 950 C.M.R. 32.08. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(g). In order for this office to proceed with a petition, the requestor is required to provide the Supervisor with a copy of the original written request that was sent to the records access officer, and a copy of the response by which the records access officer responded. While Mr. Kaufman provided the Department’s February 11, 2021 response, Mr. Kaufman did not provide this office with a copy of the original written request. 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

Debi McCarthy SPR21/0392 Page 2 March 2, 2021 Conclusion Mr. Kaufman may re-submit his appeal when he has retrieved copies of all the required documents. Accordingly, I consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Joseph Kaufman