Kevin Poulsen v. Natick, Town of (SPR 20220512)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records March 10, 2022 SPR22/0512 Kathleen Lentini Records Access Officer Town of Natick 13 East Central Street Natick, MA 01760 Dear Ms. Lentini: I have received the petition of Kevin Poulsen appealing the response of the Town of Natick (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On February 14, 2022, Mr. Poulsen requested, “a color copy or original color version of the Grant to the Inhabitants of the Town of Natick, Book, 15153 Page 423-426 [regarding a certain property].” The Town provided a response on March 2, 2022. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Mr. Poulsen petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/0512, 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 agency or municipality 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); 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). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. The Town’s March 2nd Response On March 2, 2022, the Town stated: 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

Kathleen Lentini SPR22/0512 Page 2 March 10, 2022 You are more than welcome to come in and look through our old records and see if you can find the easement grant. I would also recommend going/calling the registry of deeds to determine what has been recorded. We are able to look up a specific year to provide you with any votes you need but we do not have the ability to go through 60-80 years of records. They are in our office or available at the library. Current Appeal In his current appeal, Mr. Poulsen stated, “there has not been a sufficient attempt (or any attempt evidenced) to locate and identify the records. The RAO stated ‘we do not have the ability to go through 60-80 years of records.’ When in fact the requested records are from a pinpoint in time 39 years ago, (1983).” Based on the Town’s March 2, 2022 response, it remains unclear if it possesses additional records responsive to the above request. Specifically, the Town must clarify whether it possesses records regarding the grant in question. The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(ii). In accordance with the Public Records Law, custodians are expected to use their superior knowledge of the records in their custody to assist requestors in obtaining the desired information. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5). Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Poulsen with a response to the request, provided 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: Kevin Poulsen