CCC Sunshine v. Cannabis Control Commission (SPR 20250319)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records February 13, 2025 SPR25/0319 Michael Bergquist, Esq. Associate General Counsel Cannabis Control Commission 50 Franklin Street Boston, MA 02110 Dear Attorney Bergquist: I have received the petition of CCC Sunshine (“requestor”) appealing the response of the Cannabis Control Commission (Commission) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On January 15, 2025, the requestor sought the following information related to 14 named individuals from January 1, 2022 to the present: [1] Compensation Documentation: This encompasses all records related to employee pay, including but not limited to: salary information, gross and net pay, deductions, bonuses, and any other forms of financial compensation[;] [2] Timekeeping Documentation: All records that document the hours worked by each individual are requested. This may include electronic records, time cards, sign-in sheets, or any other system used to track employee work hours[;] [3] Expense Reimbursement Documentation: This includes any and all records related to the reimbursement of expenses incurred by the individuals in the performance of their duties, such as travel expenses, meals, and other related costs[;] [4] Calendars: Copies of the official calendars for each individual are requested, including details of appointments, meetings, and events. The Commission provided a response on January 31, 2025. Unsatisfied with the response, the requestor petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/0319, 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 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 Bergquist, Esq. SPR25/0319 Page 2 February 13, 2025 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. 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. The Commission’s January 31st Response In its January 31, 2025 response, the Commission informed the requestor that their request did not reasonably identify the records sought and estimated that more than 50,000 documents may be responsive to the request. Current Appeal In the requestor’s appeal to this office, the requestor states: The Commission’s claim that our request is overly broad because it seeks ‘all’ of a category of documents is a disingenuous interpretation. We have not sought all payroll records; we’ve requested specific payroll records for named individuals over a defined period. Their suggestion that such a search would yield 50,000 documents is not only absurd but insulting to both the requestor and the public. A limited number of employees, over a limited period, could never produce such [a] … volume of records. … We have provided specific categories of documents, named individuals, and a defined timeframe. No ‘full-time investigation’ is required to locate basic employment records such as timesheets and calendars…. Reasonable Description of Records Sought Please be aware, the Public Records Law states that a records access officer must furnish a copy of any public record “provided that the request reasonably describes the public record sought.” See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(i). In a recent case, the Superior Court found that under the Public Records Law “[t]he

Michael Bergquist, Esq. SPR25/0319 Page 3 February 13, 2025 reasonable description requirement contemplates that a requesting party will identify documents or categories of documents with sufficient particularity that government employees will be able to understand exactly what they are looking for, and then make a prompt production.” See Jaideep Chawla v. Dep’t of Revenue, Suffolk. Sup. No. l 784CV02087, at 2 (January 23, 2019). The court further indicated “[r]equests for documents that are articulated with very broad language that calls upon non-lawyer administrative personnel to interpret the scope of what is sought, and then make fine judgments about what documents are and are not sufficiently ‘related’ to the category of materials requested, will not satisfy this statutory standard.” As such, requests that seek “all records relating to…,” “all records concerning…,” or “all records regarding…” are not sufficiently particular as to satisfy the statutory standard of a request that “reasonably described the public record sought.” See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(i). Consistent with the decision in Chawla, I find that the language “all records related to employee pay” and “all records that document the hours worked” does not satisfy the statutory standard for a request that reasonably describes the public record sought. See Chawla, at 2. The requestor may wish to provide clarification regarding the specific records they are seeking. Once the requestor has provided the needed clarification, the Commission must provide a response within 10 business days. This office encourages the requestor and the Commission to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vii) (an agency shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the agency to produce the records sought more efficiently and affordably). Conclusion Accordingly, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. If the requestor is not satisfied with the resolution of this administrative appeal, please be advised that this office shares jurisdiction with the Superior Court of the Commonwealth. See G. L. c. 66, §§ 10(b)(ix), 10A(c) (pursuing administrative appeal does not limit availability of judicial remedies). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: CCC Sunshine