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Mon, 31 Jul 2006 01:04:10 -0400 |
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Page 1
A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:h9e1PFhExmwJ:www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf
http://tinyurl.com/qgr62
Published by
William Francis Galvin Secretary of the Commonwealth
Public Records Division
updated 10/7/05
Page 2
Page 3
The founding fathers of our nation strove to develop an
open government formed on the principles of democracy and
public participation.
An informed citizen is better prepared to take part in that
process.
For this reason, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has had a
law mandating the disclosure of public records since 1851.
Early versions of this law basically provided a list of
government records which were to be publicly available.
In 1973, and in response to the Watergate scandal, Congress
passed the federal Freedom of Information Act, in order to
make government records more accessible to the general public.
The Massachusetts Legislature then revised the Public Records
Law to parallel that federal law, by adopting certain
provisions, and rejecting others.
Every government record is now presumed to be public unless it
is subject to an exemption.
As Secretary of the Commonwealth and chief public
information officer for the Commonwealth, I am pleased to
publish this booklet explaining the Public Records Law.
The full text of the law is provided, as well as a brief
description of each of the exemptions to the law.
I have also included a section of commonly asked questions
about a requester's rights to access public records, as well
as a government custodian's duty to respond to those requests.
Any additional questions regarding the Public Records Law
should be directed to the Public Records Division at: (617)
727-2832 during regular business hours.
You may also access various Public Records Division
publications through the Internet at:
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre
William Francis Galvin
Secretary of the Commonwealth
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Table of Contents
Commonly Asked Questions ............................1
Overview of the Massachusetts Public Records Law ....5
The Public Records Law .............................37
950 CMR: Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth 43
Examples of Exemption (a) Statutes .................51
Published by
William Francis Galvin Secretary of the Commonwealth
Public Records Division
One Ashburton Place Room 1719
Boston MA 02108
Telephone 617 727-2832
Fax 617 727-5914
Website http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcrmu/rmuidx.htm
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:h9e1PFhExmwJ:www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf
http://tinyurl.com/qgr62
List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
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