Sean Sheridan v. Brockton, City of (SPR 20212889)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records November 3, 2021 SPR21/2889 Allison Cogliano, Esq. Assistant City Solicitor City of Brockton 45 School Street Brockton, MA 02301 Dear Attorney Cogliano: I have received your petition on behalf of the City of Brockton (City) seeking an extension of time to produce records and permission to charge for time spent segregating or redacting responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). As required by law, it is my understanding that the City furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor, Sean Sheridan. Id. On October 18, 2021, Mr. Sheridan requested, “any disciplinary records…[and] citizenry complaints” for two named law enforcement officers. On November 1, 2021, the City sent two letters to the Public Records Division requesting a time extension and permission to access fees, respectively. On that same day, Mr. Sheridan wrote to the City stating that, “So we can try to narrow your workload, I’d like to reduce the [scope of the] request to: ‘From January 1, 2020 to today.’” The City responded, “[We have] let the [Brockton Police Department] know of your modification and we can get that done for you…[for no] fee. [The City] would request, however, that we still get an additional 10 business days to send you the response. If you do not object to this extension, we will get started. Otherwise, [the City] will need to update [its] petition.” Mr. Sheridan responded, “I am happy to give you 10 business days.” The City responded, “Great…[the City] will forward [the records] to you within that time.” Conclusion In light of the above, it is unnecessary to opine on the City’s petition for an extension of time to produce records and permission to charge for time spent segregating or redacting responsive records. Further, this office encourages Mr. Sheridan and the City to continue to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vii). 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

Allison Cogliano, Esq. SPR21/2889 Page 2 November 3, 2021 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Sean Sheridan