Mara Dolan v. Worcester, City of (SPR 20230884)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records May 16, 2023 SPR23/0884 Michael Vigneux Records Access Officer City of Worcester 455 Main Street Worcester, MA 01608 Dear Mr. Vigneux: I have received the petition of Mara Dolan appealing the response of the City of Worcester (City) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On March 15, 2022, Ms. Dolan requested from the City, “[a]ny and all unredacted reports of allegations of misconduct, including but not limited to: excessive use of force, falsifying evidence, and/or perjury, by [an identified police officer].” In Ms. Dolan’s May 3, 2023 petition to this office, Ms. Dolan states, “[t]he City responded on March 22, 2022, stating that responsive records had been found and that the City required up to 15 additional business days to complete the work necessary to fulfill the request. To date, the request remains pending on the public records portal of the [City]. I am writing to file an appeal.” 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). The attachments you provided with your appeal have exceeded the ninety day limit. You may make a new request to the City for the same information. The City has ten business days in which to respond to your new request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b). If the City denies your request or fails to respond within ten business days, you may appeal to this office within the statutory time frame. To petition an appeal, you must send the Supervisor of Records copies of the following: 1. The written 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

Michael Vigneux SPR23/0884 Page 2 May 16, 2023 2. The written response, if any had; 3. A brief letter detailing the reason for the appeal. At that time this office will review the matter. Conclusion Accordingly, I will consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Mara Dolan