Mitchell Kosht v. Amherst, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20211514)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records June 29, 2021 SPR21/1514 Captain Ronald A. Young Town of Amherst Police Department 111 Main Street Amherst, MA 01002 Dear Captain Young: I have received the petition of Mitchell Kosht of the Committee for Public Counsel Services appealing the response of the Town of Amherst Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On April 8, 2021, Mr. Kosht requested: 1. A spreadsheet, e.g., Microsoft Excel, or other flat file format, e.g., Comma-separated Values (CSV) or Tab-separated Values (TSV), containing the following fields of data for all personnel employed by the [Department]: Employee Identification number; Last Name; First Name; Badge number; Rank; Status (i.e., “active” or “suspended with pay”); Date the individual joined the [Department], and 2. A spreadsheet identical to that generated in response to the first part of this request, with the same information as of January 1st of each year dating back to 2010. Mr. Kosht requested that the records be provided in an accessible, commonly used electronic form to the extent feasible. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5)(d). In addition, Mr. Kosht requests, “[b]ecause this request involves a matter of public concern and is made on behalf of a state agency, we ask that you waive any fees.” If the Department intends to charge fees, Mr. Kosht requests that he be allowed to review records prior to deciding which portions to copy. 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

Captain Ronald A. Young SPR21/1514 Page 2 June 29, 2021 Unsatisfied with the Department’s production of the records, Mr. Kosht petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and this appeal was opened. In his petition, Mr. Kosht asserted that the production of records should be, to the extent feasible, in the format the requestor preferred. He also asserts, that if not in the format preferred by the requestor, it should be provided in a machine-readable form. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5)(d). Mr. Kosht asserts, “[b]ecause these files are neither the preferred file format or a searchable, machine-readable form, we request…that the [Department] be required to provide the original spreadsheet file.” Mr. Kosht asserts, “[h]ere the Department has provided what appear to be printed versions of a Microsoft Excel file…[o]ur attempts to use various types of software to convert these pdfs back to Microsoft Excel have failed.” Preferred Format A records access officer must, to the extent feasible, provide public records to a requestor in electronic format unless the record is not available in electronic form or the requestor does not have the ability to receive or access the records in electronic format and if feasible, in the requestor’s preferred format. In the absence of a preferred format, the records must be provided in a searchable machine-readable form. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5)(d). In light of Mr. Kosht’s appeal, I find the Department must clarify whether the responsive records can be provided in the format that Mr. Kosht requested. I encourage the parties to work together to resolve the outstanding issue. Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Kosht 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: Captain Ronald A. Young