Bill > S2127

This bill aims to improve public records access by establishing a Public Records Assistance Fund, administered by the Massachusetts Office of Information Technology, to provide grants to municipalities for enhancing their technology capabilities and best practices in managing public records. It also mandates that agencies and municipalities designate "records access officers" responsible for coordinating responses to public records requests, assisting requesters, and preparing guidelines for making informed requests, with these guidelines to be posted online. The bill sets new timelines for responding to public records requests, generally within 15 calendar days, with provisions for extensions under specific circumstances, and clarifies the fees that can be charged for record reproduction, limiting them to actual costs and capping hourly rates for employee time spent on requests, while also allowing for fee waivers in certain public interest or financial hardship cases. Furthermore, it introduces penalties for agencies or municipalities that do not act in good faith when withholding or delaying public records, including punitive damages, and requires the supervisor of records to adopt regulations to implement these changes by September 1, 2016. The bill also clarifies that certain documents related to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's pension funds and homeowners insurance rate filings are considered public records, and mandates that agencies provide electronic copies of specific types of public records on searchable websites.