Massachusetts Open Records 
Massachusetts laws and court cases
State Statute
Open Government Guide to Massachusett's open records legislation by The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Letter Generator
Generate an open records request that conforms to Massachusetts requirements
Exemptions
Document types exempted from public access.
Contacts (where to send your request)
Follow this link to create a filterable list of Massachusetts School Addresses
Follow this link for the The Boston Globe's handy guide to public records.
Boston City Clerks
State Salary Database
The Boston Herald has this list of state payroll through April of 2007: Massachusetts 2007 State Employee Payroll
The Boston Globe found in August 2008 that bonuses boost council staff pay.
To see what other states have salary databases, click here.
Blogs, websites and resources that use open records
(add yours!)
Citizens for Open Government
Sunshine Boston
Press
Head to Sunshine Review for the most recent open record updates in Massachusetts.
2008
October 28, 2008: Records about chief still sought
October 23, 2008: The state's Public Records Law is flouted by officials at all levels of government
October 22, 2008: Daily News to appeal Open Meeting Law decision
October 22, 2008: Public records should be public
October 20, 2008: Lawrence School Committee member gagged
September 26, 2008: Town forced to release Williams’ settlement after state rules in favor of I&M’s FOI request
September 24, 2008: Williams gets $37,000 settlement agreement
September 20, 2008: Secretive parole votes raise furor
August 21, 2008: Selectmen violate Open Meeting Law
August 19, 2008: Bonuses boost council staff pay
August 19, 2008: State OKs charge for e-mail record request
August 14, 2008: Public records not really public, reporters find
August 13, 2008: Paper seeks garage information
August 10, 2008: Turnpike takes its meetings on the road
August 7, 2008: Police are sued by ACLU. Group seeks records of arrests in schools
July 22, 2008: Mayor seeks records on firefighters' physicians
July 20, 2008: Police public files costly
July 17, 2008: Public has right to know who Brockton employees are calling
June 27, 2008: Court blasts City Council secrecy
May 23, 2008: CORI reform unlikely
April 8, 2008: Hopkinton officials to attend public records training
April 7, 2008: School Chief Spies on Committee E-mail
March 25, 2008: On public records test, Newton comes up short
March 19, 2008: Brookline passes public records test, but response reveals bookkeeping lapse
March 19, 2008: Public records allow scrutiny
March 13, 2008: Daily News to appeal $2,000 charge for Troiano's e-mail
March 3, 2008: Records say state workers wasted time surfing Web
February 27, 2008: Make public information public
February 27, 2008: Peabody schools’ emails will now be publicly archived
February 19, 2008: State orders data released financial info on former officer
January 20, 2008: School case raises flag on e-mail
January 16, 2008: Newburyport undermining citizens' right to know
January 16, 2008: SMOC demands public records
January 15, 2008: Don't hide criminal records from public view
January 15, 2008: City denies News' request for documents on sergeant suspension
January 13, 2008: Crash
January 11, 2008: If It Walks Like a Cop…
2007
December 29, 2007: Public listings could go private
December 18, 2007: State blasts town over records
December 13, 2007: Records detail Lamberis charges
December 8, 2007: SMOC suit becomes a battle over documents
November 2, 2007: YOUR VIEW: Public records reveal truth of Dartmouth contracts
October 26, 2007: Policing public access (Opinion column)
October 19, 2007: Seekonk building records promised but elusive
October 19, 2007: New Bedford police must release cell phone records
September 15, 2007: Newspaper files appeal for police cell phone bills
August 16, 2007: Some say Town Meeting e-mails should be open to public
July 20, 2007: Attorney-client documents exempt from public records law
July 20, 2007: Holliston official might refuse state's e-mail order
July 17, 2007: Missing documents spur debate on public records
July 6, 2007: Lawmakers Revive Battle Over Police Records
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Comments (2)
don warner saklad said
at 1:15 pm on Jul 16, 2008
http://lists.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A1=ind0807c&L=recmgmt-l
http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A1=ind0807&L=foi-l
http://lists.ala.org/sympa/arc/ifforum
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.libraries.talk/
http://www.lita.org/ala/oif/iftoolkits/ifmanual/intellectual.cfm
I have received your petition appealing the fee estimate
provided by the City of Cambridge Public Library (City) to your
March 4, 2008 public records request.
See GL c55 s10(b) (2006 ed.) (Supervisor of Public Records has
authority to resolve public records appeals);
see also 950 CMR 32.08(2) (appeal process).
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/pubreclaw.pdf
Specifically, you requested a copy of the internal phone list
located in the City's Library.
By email dated April 4, 2008,
Attorney Nancy E. Glowa, Deputy City Solicitor,
provided you with a written estimate of $24.63 for the cost of
providing you with the responsive records.
See GL c66 s10(a) (2006 ed.) (any person having custody of public
records shall furnish a copy thereof upon payment of a reasonable
fee);
see also, 950 CMR 32.06(2) (custodian shall provide written, good
faith estimate where it expects costs to comply will exceed ten
dollars ($10.00)).
However you requested that this Office review
the reasonableness of the estimate.
don warner saklad said
at 1:23 pm on Jul 16, 2008
I have received your petition appealing the fee estimate
<br>provided by the City of Cambridge Public Library (City) to your
<br>March 4, 2008 public records request.
<br>See GL c55 s10(b) (2006 ed.) (Supervisor of Public Records has
<br>authority to resolve public records appeals);
<br>see also 950 CMR 32.08(2) (appeal process).
<br><a href="http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/pubreclaw.pdf">http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/pubreclaw.pdf</a>
<br>
<br>Specifically, you requested a copy of the internal phone list
<br>located in the City's Library.
<br>
<br> By email dated April 4, 2008,
<br>Attorney Nancy E. Glowa, Deputy City Solicitor,
<br>provided you with a written estimate of $24.63 for the cost of
<br>providing you with the responsive records.
<br>See GL c66 s10(a) (2006 ed.) (any person having custody of public
<br>records shall furnish a copy thereof upon payment of a reasonable
<br>fee);
<br>see also, 950 CMR 32.06(2) (custodian shall provide written, good
<br>faith estimate where it expects costs to comply will exceed ten
<br>dollars ($10.00)).
<br>
<br>However you requested that this Office review
<br>the reasonableness of the estimate.
more at
<a href="http://lists.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A1=ind0807c&L=recmgmt-l">http://lists.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A1=ind0807c&L=recmgmt-l</a>
<br><a href="http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A1=ind0807&L=foi-l">http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A1=ind0807&L=foi-l</a>
<br><a href="http://lists.ala.org/sympa/arc/ifforum">http://lists.ala.org/sympa/arc/ifforum</a>
<br><a href="http://groups.google.com/group/soc.libraries.talk/">http://groups.google.com/group/soc.libraries.talk/</a>
<br><a href="http://www.lita.org/ala/oif/iftoolkits/ifmanual/intellectual.cfm">http://www.lita.org/ala/oif/iftoolkits/ifmanual/intellectual.cfm</a>
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