Thomas Jones v. Office of the Attorney General (SPR 20211796)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records August 2, 2021 SPR21/1796 Lorraine A.G. Tarrow, Esq. Records Access Officer Office of the Attorney General One Ashburton Place, 20th Floor Boston, MA 02108 Dear Attorney Tarrow: I have received the petition of Thomas Jones of American Accountability Foundation appealing the response of the Office of the Attorney General (AGO) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § l0A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On June 3, 2021, Mr. Jones requested, “… email records in the possession of the [named persons] [w]here the email is to, from, cc’d, or bcc’d, or includes in the body or subject of the email [for a named person] … from January 1, 2020 through present.” The AGO responded on June 17, 2021. Unsatisfied with the AGO's response, Mr. Jones petitioned this office and SPR21/1796 was opened as a result. 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 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). 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

Lorraine A.G. Tarrow, Esq. SPR21/1796 Page 2 August 2, 2021 The AGO’s June 17th Response In its June 17th response, the AGO provided a fee estimate of $2,650.00. The AGO requested that Mr. Jones, “…modify this request in the interest of reducing the time and associated fees for providing the public records …” The AGO also requested that Mr. Jones “… set up a mutually convenient time to discuss such options.” Current Appeal In his appeal, Mr. Jones stated, “I do not agree to your demand that I concede the propriety of your six month estimate and refusal to expedite processing of the request.” It is my understanding the AGO intends to produce the responsive records. The AGO is to produce the records on a rolling basis where possible. I encourage Mr. Jones and the AGO to communicate in order to facilitate producing records efficiently and affordably. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)(i). Conclusion Accordingly, the AGO is ordered to provide a response to Mr. Jones in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. 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: Thomas Jones