Larry D. Ingram v. Massachusetts Parole Board (SPR 20222418)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records November 7, 2022 SPR22/2418 Stacy Book Records Access Officer Massachusetts Parole Board 12 Mercer Road Natick, MA 01760 Dear Ms. Book: I have received the petition of Larry D. Ingram appealing the response of the Massachusetts Parole Board (Board) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § l0A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On August 12, 2022, Mr. Ingram requested his own warrants of commitment. The Board responded on August 30, 2022. Unsatisfied with the Board’s response, Mr. Ingram petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/2418, 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(d)(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, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the 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). The Board’s August 30th response In its August 30, 2022 response, the Board stated, “[w]hile you submitted your request 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

Stacy Book SPR22/2418 Page 2 November 7, 2022 under the Public Records law, your request is for personal Criminal Offender Records Information (CORI) for which you have a unique right of access under G.L. c. 6 section 172 (a)(5) of the Criminal Offender Record Information Act. Under 950 CMR 32.06(1)(g) a request for records in which an individual, or representative of the individual has a unique right of access by statutory, regulatory, judicial or other applicable means, shall not be considered a request for public records.” The Board further stated, “[t]he criminal clerk’s office of the county that issued the mittimi should be able to provide you with a copies of these documents. If you are requesting these documents to challenge the calculation of your parole eligibility date, you would have to ask the clerk’s office to send the documents to the Parole Board directly.” Based on the above, it is unclear if the Board possesses the above specified warrants of commitment. 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). The Board must clarify this matter. Conclusion Accordingly, the Board is ordered to provide Mr. Ingram 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, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Larry D. Ingram