The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth
Public Records Division
Shawn A. Williams
Supervisor ofRecords

December 17, 2015
SPRlS/745
Ms. Cathy M. Judd-Stein, Esq.
Deputy Chief Legal Counsel
Office of the Governor
State House, Room 271
Boston, MA 0213 3
Dear Attorney Judd-Stein:
I have received the petition of Todd Wallack appealing the response of the Office of the
Governor (Office) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R.
32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Wallack requested a copy of the Office's response to a separate
public records request made by another individual. Mr. Wallack also requested "electronic
copies of text messages sent to or from the Governor Baker a particular date.
In your response dated September 17, 2015, you provided a copy of the Office's response
to the separate public records request made by the other individual. However, you denied Mr.
Wallack's request for text messages, stating that the "Office of the Governor is not one of the
instrumentalities enumerated" by the Public Records Law. See Lambert v. Executive Dir. ofthe
Judicial Nominating Council, 425 Mass. 406,409 (1997). You further explained, however, "it is
the voluntary practice of the Office to consider and respond to public records requests on a caseby-case basis."
Whereas the Supreme Judicial Court held that records of the Governor are not subject to
mandatory disclosure under the Public Records Law, I will consider this administrative appeal
closed.

cc: Mr. Todd Wallack

OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914
www.sec.state.ma.us/pre