On Friday, June 3, 2016, Governor Charlie Baker signed the public records reform bill unanimously approved in late May by both the state Senate and House of Representatives. This is the first major overhaul of the state’s public records law since 1973 (more than four decades). The bill, which goes into effect on January 1, [...]
The Secretary of State’s office issued revised regulations that lower the fees a governmental entity can charge for copies of public records (950 CMR 32.06). Effective February 29, 2016, entities can only charge “the actual cost of any storage device or material provided to a person in response to a request for public records”, and [...]
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) recently issued a decision in Champa v. Town of Weston Public Schools, which vacates a prior decision of the superior court and balances the public’s right of access to government records with a student’s right to individual privacy and the confidentiality of student records. 2015 WL 6394201 (Oct. 23, [...]