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Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
William Francis Galvin

Public Records

Sunshine Week
March 15-21, 2026
Updated Public Records Law - By the Numbers

the sunshine week logo. Below the Sunshine Week heading, the slogan reads "your right to know" and has icon art of the state house, with an open folder graphic

The updates to the Massachusetts Public Records Law (Law) have now been in effect for about eight 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:

2025 Breakdown

In 2025, the Public Records Division closed the most cases since the new rules were enacted in 2017! 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.

A pie chart titled: Cases Closed with the number 4,001 displayed large. To the right is a bulleted list: 3,217 Appeals, 454 Fee petitions, 109 Reconsiderations, 147 Time Petitions, 74 In - camera reviews

Cases Opened by Public Records Division (2014-2025)

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.

A bar chart: detailing cases opened by public records division from 2014 - 2025 with a note between 2016 and 2017 which reads. Updated Law Goes into effect. The information from the chart is as follows: In 2015 – 944, In 2016 – 1251, In 2017 – 1,778 In 2018 – 2,303 In 2019– 2,714 In 2020 – 2,767 In 2021 – 3,512 In 2022 – 3,104 In 2023 – 3,291 In 2024 – 3,632 In 2025 – 4,050

Substantive appeals and non-responses in 2025

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 2613 substantive appeals and 650 non-responses.

A pie chart that shows that. The Division received 2,613 substantive appeals and 650 non-responses.
    Graphic Caption:
  • The Division received 2,077 substantive appeals and 791 non-responses.

Monthly Appeal Numbers

The year 2025 saw a considerable number of appeals opened and closed. There were many cases that were opened each month throughout the year. However, June and July were the busiest months with 371 and 366 cases opened respectively.

A graph that details the range of appeals opened or closed by the month, for the year 2025

Requests Received by Massachusetts Agencies (2017-2025)

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 47,776 requests that they received in 2025.

Two folder graphics with bars rising from them and acting as a bar graph. The information is as follows: 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. 2024. Number of records uploaded: 44,158. Number of requests reported to have been appealed to the Supervisor: 421. 2025. Number of records uploaded: 47,776. Number of requests reported to have been appealed to the Supervisor: 485.

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 .