Mary Dormer v. Carver, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20212845)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records November 3, 2021 SPR21/2845 Cara Dahill Town Clerk Town of Carver Carver Town Hall 108 Main Street Carver, MA 02330 Dear Ms. Dahill: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Carver (Town) seeking an extension of time to produce records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). As required by law, the Town furnished a copy of its petition to the requestor, Mary Dormer. Id. On September 15, 2021, Ms. Dormer requested “all legal opinions from January 2019 to present.” Petitions 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

Cara Dahill SPR21/2845 Page 2 November 3, 2021 The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requestor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b). Extension of Time to Produce Responsive Records In its October 26, 2021 petition, the Town states that it responded to Ms. Dormer’s request “. . . in a timely manner, asserting the attorney/client privilege as to communications with its counsel. In your Determination, you required the Town to provide copies of any opinions for which the privilege has been waived and a privilege log as to anything being withheld.” The Town explains “[t]o comply with the requirements of the Determination, Town staff and Town Counsel are required to review all communications from Town Counsel over a period of thirty- three (33) months to determine which communications contain opinions and of those, which should be released or described in a privilege log. An initial search of the Town’s e-mail server has revealed more than 1,200 pages of potentially responsive document.” The Town further posits that “[g]iven the broad time range and unlimited subject-matter of the request, it is expected that it will take many hours of work to respond as required in the Determination. If the requestor wishes to narrow the request, the Town may be able to respond in a shorter period of time. If not, the Town estimates that it will take an additional thirty (30) business days to fully respond, and it is hereby requesting an extension of time in that amount.” Conclusion In light of the above, 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 30 business days to furnish copies of records responsive to Ms. Dormer’s request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). To the extent possible, the Town must provide responsive records on a rolling basis. Please note, Ms. Dormer 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: Mary Dormer