2024 Sunshine Week Infographic PDF
The updates to the Massachusetts Public Records Law (Law) have now been in effect for a little over seven years. Changes to the Law include: specified time periods for the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) to issue determinations on public records appeals, limits on fees permitted to be charged by government Records Access Officers (RAOs) and requirements for state agencies to track and report public records request information. Take a look below at how the updated Law has had an impact in recent years:
2023 Breakdown
In 2023, a significant number of cases were closed by the Public Records Division. These cases include: 1) petitions from RAOs to charge additional fees, be granted extra time to respond to requests or be relieved of their obligation to respond; 2) requests for reconsideration of the Supervisor’s orders; 3) in camera reviews of the requested records by the Supervisor; and 4) determinations by the Supervisor relating to appeals from requestors alleging certain violations of the Law.
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Graphic Caption:
- Cases Closed: 3,266
- Appeals: 2,843
- Fee petitions: 212
- Time petitions: 62
- In-camera review: 57
- Reconsiderations: 92
Cases Opened by Public Records Division (2013-2023)
When a requestor is denied access to records, the requestor may appeal to the Supervisor to determine the public status of the requested records. In part due to the requirement for the Supervisor to issue determinations on appeals within 10 business days, as well as the ability of RAOs to submit petitions, the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Public Records Division has seen a significant increase in the number of these cases opened in recent years.
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Graphic Caption:
- 2013 – 286
- 2014 – 783
- 2015 – 944
- 2016 – 1,251
- 2017 – 1,778
- 2018 – 2,303
- 2019 – 2,714
- 2020 – 2,767
- 2021 – 3,512
- 2022 – 3,104
- 2023 – 3,291
Substantive appeals and non-responses in 2023
This year, the Public Records Division (Division) received more substantive appeals compared to appeals due to a non-response. Substantive appeals are a result of a requestor receiving an unsatisfactory response from the custodian, while a non-response appeal stems from a custodian not responding to the request within 10 business days as statutorily required. The Division received 2,077 substantive appeals and 791 non-responses.
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- The Division received 2,077 substantive appeals and 791 non-responses.
Monthly Appeal Numbers
The year 2023 saw a considerable number of appeals opened and closed. There were many cases that were opened each month throughout the year. However, June and August were the busiest months with 389 and 332 cases opened respectively.
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- January – 205
- February – 209
- March – 241
- April – 229
- May – 312
- June – 389
- July – 265
- August – 332
- September – 263
- October – 296
- November – 295
- December – 255
- January – 199
- February – 210
- March – 238
- April – 228
- May – 317
- June – 303
- July – 319
- August – 304
- September – 302
- October – 264
- November – 310
- December – 272
Cases open per month during Year 2023:
Cases closed per month during Year 2023
Requests Received by Massachusetts Agencies (2017-2023)
2017 was the first year agencies were required to log the requests received for public records and submit them to the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Numerous agencies filed information relating to 40,381 requests that they received in 2023.
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- 2017
Number of records uploaded: 22,572
Number of requests reported to have been appealed to the Supervisor: 171 - 2018
Number of records uploaded: 27,094
Number of requests reported to have been appealed to the Supervisor: 319 - 2019
Number of records uploaded: 29,803
Number of requests reported to have been appealed to the Supervisor: 343 - 2020
Number of records uploaded: 26,571
Number of requests reported to have been appealed to the Supervisor: 315 - 2021
Number of records uploaded: 32,165
Number of requests reported to have been appealed to the Supervisor: 359 - 2022
Number of records uploaded: 33,608
Number of requests reported to have been appealed to the Supervisor: 360 - 2023
Number of records uploaded: 40,381
Number of requests reported to have been appealed to the Supervisor: 370
All of the determinations issued by the Supervisor are public and available on the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website at: www.sec.state.ma.us/pre. For more information on the Public Records Law, please read the Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law available at: www.sec.state.ma.us /divisions/public-records/download /guide.pdf. For any questions about the Public Records Law, please contact the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Public Records Division at 617-727-2832 or pre@sec.state.ma.us.
