The custodian's response

Compiled and written by Colman M. Herman.

The records custodian must respond in writing to your public records request within ten calendar days.  In practice, that means the custodian must at least acknowledge receipt of your request.  It often takes longer to obtain the records particularly if a lot of records are requested.

The response must be either an offer to provide the requested records or a denial in part or in total based on the claiming of one or more of the at least 70 exemptions available under the public records law, which is explained below. 

The records custodian is obligated to inform you of your right to appeal the response to the supervisor of public records in the secretary of state’s office, which handles public records appeals for the state, or file a complaint in Superior Court or with the Supreme Judicial Court. The appeal process is explained in the section on appeals.

The mere stamping of “confidential” on a document by a public official, in and of itself, does not shield it from being a public record.  If that were not the case, any official with a rubber stamp could easily frustrate the law.

There is nothing in the public records laws that precludes a government entity from contracting with a private vendor to maintain and store its records.  But those records do not become the property of the vendor and thus are still subject to the public records law.  In other words, the government entity cannot contract away its public records responsibilities and tell you to seek the records from the vendor.  A change in location of the records does not abrogate the government’s obligations to ensure access to public records.

Other Sections:

Introduction to public records
Asking for records
The fees
The exemptions
Attorney-client privilege
Appeals
Quasi-government agencies/misc.
More help/resource links