HUNTINGTON – Elected and appointed town officials gathered for a training Wednesday in Stanton Hall on the new public records law, which went into effect January 1, 2017.
Huntington Town Counsel Thomas W. McEnaney speaks on new Public Records Law to town officials in Stanton Hall Wednesday. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Town Counsel Thomas W. McEnaney of KP Law in Boston ran through the law and the changes in it to approximately 30 officials from the Select Board, Board of Health, Public Library, Planning, Conservation Commission, Building Inspector, Clerk, Assessors, Police and Fire Departments, Finance Committee and North Hall. Several officials from Chester and Worthington also attended the training.
McEnaney said the state is operating on the presumption that all records are public, and the new law is intended to streamline and centralize requests through one or more Records Access Officers (RAO) designated in every municipality by law.
Contact information for the RAO must be posted in municipal offices and on the town’s website, and guidelines for requestors must also be posted on the website no later than July 1, 2017.
McEnaney said that by default town clerks are automatically RAOs, along with the chief executive officer or his or her designee. He said oftentimes there may be an RAO in the police department, public works, building or fire department, depending on the volume of requests for each department. He said the law allows cities or towns to make that call. He said if there are several RAOs appointed, the town should consider whether one should be supervisory.
Other changes in the new public records law include the response time and fees that may be charged for gathering information. Whereas previously the town was required to respond to requests within ten calendar days, it is now ten business days. Failure to respond within ten days means that no fees may be assessed.
If the request is a large or difficult one to fulfill, the response may be a written letter confirming receipt of request and potential fees. The town then has up to an additional 15 days to fulfill the request. More time requires petitioning the Supervisor of Records in Boston, who may grant an additional 30 days for good cause shown.
Fees are based on the actual cost of producing the material (copies at 5 cents, postage, thumb drive, for example), as well as the employee’s time based on actual salary, which is capped at $25 per hour. Cities over 20,000 in population may not assess a fee for the first two hours of an employee’s time, but towns under 20,000 may charge from the first minute.
There is also a preference for providing the records in electronic form, if available. The state also requires posting of records in a timely fashion on the municipal website, including minutes of open meetings, notices of hearings, budgets, annual reports and other information of significant public interest.
Another major change in the law is that requestors may appeal the response of the RAO directly to the Superior Court, or to the Supervisor. If the requestor is successful in court, attorney fees and court costs will be paid by the municipality, with certain exceptions. Also, the Superior Court may award punitive damages between $1,000 and $5,000 if the requestor demonstrates that the municipality failed to act in good faith.
More information on the new law may be found at the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website at www.sec.state.ma.us.
