McLeod, Spencer v. Southborough, Town of (SPR 20261302)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records April 22, 2026 SPR26/1302 Mark J. Purple Town Administrator Town of Southborough 17 Common Street Southborough, MA 01772 Dear Mr. Purple: I have received the petition of Spencer McLeod appealing the response of the Town of Southborough (Town) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66 § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On March 30, 2026, Mr. McLeod requested the following: [A]ll emails exchanged between [two identified email addresses]. This includes emails in both directions…Date Range: January 29, 2026 through the date this request is received, inclusive. Please search all Town email accounts and systems reasonably likely to contain responsive records, including all folders within those accounts. For all responsive emails, please provide: Full header metadata[;] All attachments. If no responsive records exist, please state “zero records.” The Town provided a response on April 9, 2026. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Mr. McLeod petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR26/1302, 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. See 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 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

Mark J. Purple SPR26/1302 Page 2 April 22, 2026 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. See 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 Town’s April 9th Response In its April 9, 2026 response, the Town provided records and stated, “[w]e have provided all records responsive to your request.” Current Appeal In his April 9, 2026 appeal, Mr. McLeod stated the following: … The Town produced a single responsive record consisting of an email sent from [an identified email address] to [an identified email address]. However, the response is deficient for the following reasons: [1] The request explicitly covered emails in both directions. The Town’s production appears limited to an ongoing message only, with no corresponding incoming communication from [an identified email address][;] [2] There is a reasonable basis to believe that additional response records exist, including at least one email sent from [an identified email address] to [an identified email address] within the requested date range[;] [3] Given the absence of responsive incoming emails, the Town has not demonstrated that it conducted a search reasonably calculated to locate all responsive records… Based on Mr. McLeod’s petition and the Town’s response, it is unclear whether the Town possesses additional responsive records. 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). However, custodians are expected to use their superior knowledge of the records in their custody to assist requestors in obtaining the desired information. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5). To the extent that responsive records exist, I find the Town must provide them in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law or identify an exemption that applies to withhold the records from disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b).

Mark J. Purple SPR26/1302 Page 3 April 22, 2026 Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. McLeod with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten 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. Mr. McLeod may appeal the substantive nature of the Town’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Spencer McLeod