Marguerite L. Lee v. Norfolk County Commissioners (SPR 20230330)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records March 6, 2023 SPR23/0330 William P. O’Donnell Register of Deeds Norfolk Registry of Deeds 649 High Street Dedham, MA 02026 Dear Register O’Donnell: I have received the petition of Marguerite Lee appealing the response of the Norfolk County Commissioners (Commissioners) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On November 2, 2022, Ms. Lee requested, a “[c]opy of CD, thumb drive, tape, link or any medium of the June 22, 2022 ‘Zoom Meeting’/call held for the purposes of Registry Unit Negotiations Discussion.” The Commissioners provided a response on November 17, 2022. Unsatisfied with the Commissioner’s response, Ms. Lee petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR23/0330, 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. 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

William P. O’Donnell SPR23/0330 Page 2 March 6, 2023 The Public Records Access Regulations, which govern the procedural aspects of all appeals, require that an appeal to this office be filed within ninety calendar days of the date of the request letter, or within ninety calendar days of the date of a written response from the record custodian. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(e). Although Ms. Lee submitted the appeal on February 15, 2023, the required header including date and time on the original request was cut off. The full request was forwarded to this office on February 17, 2023. Pursuant to 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1) an appeal shall be in writing, and shall include a copy of the original request as sent to the custodian and any response from the custodian. The Public Records Access Regulations, which govern the procedural aspects of all appeals, require that an appeal to this office be filed within ninety days of the date of the request letter, or within ninety days of the date of a written response from the record custodian. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08 (1)(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.08 (1)(e). Ms. Lee’s February 17, 2023 appeal of the Commissioners’ November 17, 2022 response exceeds the ninety-day limit. Ms. Lee may make a new request to the Commissioners for the same information. The Commissioners would then have ten business days in which to respond to the new request. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)-(b). If the Commissioners deny the request or fail to respond within ten business days, Ms. Lee may appeal to this office within the above timeframe. At that time, this office will review the matter. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Marguerite Lee