Alex Belote v. Wayland, Town of (SPR 20211344)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records June 11, 2021 SPR21/1344 Louise Miller, J.D. Town Administrator Town of Wayland 41 Cochituate Road Wayland, MA 01778 Dear Ms. Miller: I have received the petition of Alex Belote appealing the response of the Town of Wayland (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Mr. Belote requested to inspect or receive copies of records from November 1, 2020 to March 30, 2021 relating to allegations made against an identified person on December 11, 2020. Prior determination The responsive records were the subject of a prior determination. See SPR21/1217 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) (May 25, 2021). In my May 25th determination, I ordered the Town to provide Mr. Belote with a response pertaining to his request for additional records beside the emails. In particular, he seeks text messages, phone records and any recorded calls. On May 27th, Mr. Belote petitioned the Supervisor again regarding additional records. The 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, § 10A(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, § 10(b)(iv) (written response must “identify any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends to withhold, and provide the specific reasons for such withholding, including the specific 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

Louise Miller, J.D. SPR21/1344 Page 2 June 11, 2021 exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based…”); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). Burden of specificity in responding to a public records request In his May 27, 2021 petition, Mr. Belote asserts, “[t]he [May 27th] email from the Town is still not a proper response to my public records request and fails to address text messages, phone records, and recordings on recorded lines.” Based on the Town’s April 29th and May 20th responses, it is still unclear if the Town is in possession, custody or control of additional records responsive to Mr. Belote’s April 14, 2021 request. 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 of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(ii). The Town must clarify whether it possesses additional responsive records. Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Belote with a response to the request, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within 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: Alex Belote