Gerard F. Mackin, Jr. v. Weymouth, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20222711)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records December 8, 2022 SPR22/2711 Kathleen Deree Town Clerk Town of Weymouth 75 Middle Street Weymouth, MA 02189 Dear Ms. Deree, I have received the petition of Gerard Mackin appealing the response of the Town of Weymouth (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On September 18, 2022, Mr. Mackin requested “… all public documents regarding my complaint to the WPD on 2-16 22 about [a named individual] … [including] all reports by the responding officer including any conversation with [the named individual] and all communications with other police officers …” Previous appeal This request was the subject of a previous appeal. See SPR22/2261 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (October 20, 2022). The Town responded on November 21, 2022. Unsatisfied with the response, Mr. Mackin petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/2711, 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 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 Deree SPR22/2711 Page 2 December 8, 2022 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 November 21st response In its November 21, 2022 response, the Town produced an incident report and specific query report with redactions and an unredacted narrative. In his appeal, Mr. Mackin advised, “[t]here are redactions which are not explained.” The Town’s November 21st response did not contain the specificity required in a denial of access to public records. Based on the above, it is unclear what information the Town redacted from the records or the exemption(s) it is claiming to withhold the redacted information from disclosure. To deny access to a record under the Public Records Law, a records access officer must identify the record, categories of records, or portions of the record it intends to withhold. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(iv); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3)(c)(4). A records custodian is required to not only cite an exemption but to specifically explain the applicability of the exemption to the requested records for compliance with the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(iv). Consequently, the Town must clearly cite an exemption(s) and explain with specificity how the exemption(s) permits it to redact the information from the records. Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Mackin 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: Gerard Mackin