Daniel Narreau v. Palmer, Town of - Fire Department (SPR 20230632)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records April 18, 2023 SPR23/0632 Ryan T. Gauthier Palmer Fire Department 12 Walnut Street Palmer, MA 01069 Dear Mr. Gauthier: I have received the petition of Daniel Narreau appealing the response of the Palmer Fire Department District 1 (Department) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On March 21, 2023, Mr. Narreau requested “… copies of public records that are requesting a fire inspection, and emails to and from [an identified person] and any property manager or prospective buyer of an [identified address in Thorndike, MA, any and all email correspondence and documents related to this matter from January 1, 2023 to present date of this request.” Communications between the Department and the requestor, Daniel Narreau On March 30, 2023, the Department provided correspondence with the identified person from January 1, 2023 to the present date. The Department also informed Mr. Narreau, “…the initial scheduling for the inspection was taken over the phone and not through email.” In a March 30th email to Mr. Gauthier, Mr. Narreau stated, “Mr. Gauthier, Thank you. Please provide a PDF format of the emails or if you are able to scan them in and send them the screenshots are hard to read. Or I can pick the records up in person.” In response to Mr. Narreau, Mr. Gauthier stated, “Daniel, Please find attached the PDF screenshots that you requested. If you would like them printed please let me know, and I will have them at our station for you to pick up.” In a further correspondence, Mr. Narreau informed Mr. Gauthier, “[t]hank you again for the details however, I need the actual emails in a PDF form, not the screenshots of them. I don’t know what the attachments are or if any emails are cut off or even missing…” Mr. Gauthier informed Mr. Narreau, “I apologize but I do not know how to send you [emails in PDF form]. I have printed my correspondence with [the identified person] from January 1, 2023 to present date for you to pick up…Our station is open from 6am to 4[pm] seven days a week…” 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

Ryan T. Gautier SPR23/0632 Page 2 April 18, 2023 Unsatisfied with the Department’s response, Mr. Narreau petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and this appeal was opened. Mr. Narreau’s petition is based on the format of the requested emails, and that he believes he was not provided with responses to email threads. 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) (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). If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. Format of the responsive records In his April 1st petition to the Supervisor, Mr. Narreau asserts, “[t]he records provided attempted to originally submit screen shots of emails, that appeared to be cut off or showed no headers. [T]hen, after requesting PDF’s of the emails I was told they did not know how to do that. Upon picking up records in person one of the documents [was] cut by scissors and missing details. The day after a record was found under another email thread and appears to have required a response that was not provided.” The Department is advised that pursuant to the Public Records Law, “[t]he records access officer shall provide the public records to a requestor by electronic means unless the record is not available in electronic form or the requestor does not have the ability to receive or access the records in a usable electronic form. The records access officer shall, to the extent feasible, provide the public record in the requestor’s preferred format or, in the absence of a preferred format, in a searchable, machine readable format.” See G. L. c. 66, § 6A(d). Based on the Department’s response, it is unclear why the Department cannot provide the records in the requestor’s preferred format. It is also uncertain whether the Department can print

Ryan T. Gautier SPR23/0632 Page 3 April 18, 2023 the email records, scan them and provide the records to Mr. Narreau via email. Further, based on Mr. Narreau’s claim, it is unclear whether the Department possesses additional records responsive to the request. 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 Department must clarify these matters. Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Narreau with a response to his request, 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 the response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Daniel Narreau