Peter Diamond v. Medfield, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20211970)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records August 11, 2021 SPR21/1970 Attorney Antoine Fares Town of Medfield 459 Main Street Medfield, MA 02052 Dear Attorney Fares: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Medfield (Town) seeking an extension of time to produce records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). As required by law, it is my understanding that the Town furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor, Mr. Peter Diamond. Id. In a letter dated July 23, 2021, Mr. Diamond requested email records for a specified list of individuals between May 13, 2021 and July 16, 2021. Petition for an Extension of Time Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 30 business days. In determining whether there has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) efforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). 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

Attorney Antoine SPR21/1970 Page 2 August 11, 2021 Current Petition In the Town’s August 3, 2021 petition, it requests “an extension of time to allow for an additional fifteen (15) business days to respond to the…public records request.” The Town explains, “[t]he requested records are voluminous. Therefore, the Town will need until August 27, 2021 to be able compile, segregate, redact and prepare a response.” Conclusion I find the Town has established good cause to permit an extension of time. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(c)(i)-(iv). I hereby grant the Town an extension of 15 business days to furnish copies of records responsive to Mr. Diamond’s request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). Please note, Mr. Diamond has the right to seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the appropriate superior court. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(4),10A(c). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Peter Diamond