NEWS: Selectmen Establish Policy For Requesting Public Documents

In response to concerns raised about the timing of a request for copies of some town documents from a local blog, Selectmen reviewed the town's public records request procedure, and ultimately determined that they would follow Mass. General Law Chapter 66 Public Records law. This has been the practice in the past, and essentially the Board reaffirmed the policy.

Residents as well as members of the media will be required to follow the request for records process and should submit the request in writing or through email. It is recommended that public records requests be submitted through the office of the Town Clerk. Town Clerk will keep a record of such requests, direct requests to records custodians as required and follow up to ensure appropriate response.

Selectmen's policy states, "Public records include paper documents and electronic records in the possession of any town board, committee, commission or employee at the time of the request. Under Chapter 66, records are to be retained for periods defined by the Supervisor of Public Records. Unless specifically exempted, a record in the possession of the town is presumed to be a record available for inspection by the public."

The Public Records Law defines the responsibilities of the town when receiving and responding to requests. For example, the town must respond to a records request within 10 days. That response may be the record which was requested, a request for clarification, a denial of the request or an estimate (if over $10) to produce the records. The town is obligated to redact information which is exempted by the Public Records Law or other statutes. The town may charge for labor involved with searching, reproducing, redacting and re-filing records "at the pro-rated hourly rate of the lowest paid person capable of performing the task." The town may also charge for electronic and paper copies according to a schedule in the law. The town is not obligated to create a record nor to respond to prospective requests.

"It is the policy of the town to respond to public records requests in accordance with Chapter 66. The town will strive to respond in a timely and efficient manner to requests, but makes no policy to respond other than as described in Chapter 66. The town will exercise its rights under Chapter 66, including recovering its costs to produce records."

Selectman Jack Petropoulos pointed out that the process "is longer than I would like. We live in an age where 10 days to respond is too long. If it is electronic, 10 days is too long, with the exception of requests that are cumbersome."

Selectman Peter Cunningham noted that the 10 days is set as an outside limit for response. Town Clerk Michael Bouchard added, "We try to get the information out as soon as possible but we have had requests that required an army of people to get the data."

Selectmen Chairman Josh Degen stressed that the policy is "trying to create a level playing field" - for the public or the media.

The Board then voted unanimously to accept the Public Records Policy as written.