Hurley v. Board of Public Welfare of Lynn

• Decision Date: 24 November 1941
• Citation: 310 Mass. 285,37 N.E.2d 993
• Parties: THOMAS F. HURLEY v. BOARD OF PUBLIC WELFARE OF LYNN.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

310 Mass. 285

37 N.E.2d 993

THOMAS F. HURLEY v. BOARD OF PUBLIC WELFARE OF LYNN.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Essex.

November 24, 1941

October 9, 1941.

Present: FIELD, C.

J., QUA, COX, &amp RONAN, JJ.

Public Record. Public Welfare. Municipal Corporations, Public records Public welfare. Mandamus. Lynn.

Under G. L. (Ter Ed.) c. 4, Section 7; c. 117, Section 32; Spec. St. 1917, c 340, Section 49, records of the board of public welfare of Lynn of persons supported and relieved, of travellers and vagrants lodged at the city's expense and of the amounts paid for such support and relief, are public records.

Upon exceptions to an order directing the issuance of a writ of mandamus enforcing a right that was the petitioner's when the order was made, this court modified the order to bring it within certain limitations established by legislation enacted while the case was pending before it.

PETITION, filed in the Supreme Judicial Court for the county of Essex on June 7, 1934, and afterwards amended, for a writ of mandamus.

The case was heard by Donahue, J., who on February 18, 1941, ordered issuance of a writ of mandamus "directing the respondents to permit the petitioner at reasonable times and under their supervision to inspect and examine the records kept by the respondents of persons fully supported, persons relieved and partially supported, travellers and vagrants lodged at the expense of the city, and of the amount paid for such support and relief, and to furnish the petitioner with copies of such records on payment of a reasonable fee."

The respondents alleged exceptions. P. F. Shanahan, City Solicitor, for the respondents, submitted a brief.

R. T. Parke, for the petitioner.

QUA, J. The single justice ordered that a writ of mandamus issue directing the respondents to permit the petitioner, a resident and taxpayer of Lynn, to examine the records kept by the respondents of persons supported and relieved and of travellers and vagrants lodged at the expense of the city and of the amount paid for such support and relief and to furnish the petitioner with copies of such records on payment of a reasonable fee. The respondents except to the refusal of the single justice to grant requests for rulings, most of which present in various forms the question whether these records are public records to which the petitioner has a right of access.

It is provided by G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 66, Section 10, that "Every person having custody of any public records shall, at reasonable times, permit them to be inspected and examined by any person, under his supervision, and shall furnish copies thereof on payment of a reasonable fee." By G. L. (Ter Ed.) c. 4, Section 7, the words "Public records" as used in the statutes, "unless a contrary intention clearly appears," are defined as including "any written or printed book or paper, any map or plan of the commonwealth, or of any county, city or town which is the property thereof, and in or on which any entry has been made or is required to be made by law . . . ." It cannot be doubted that the records kept by the respondents are the "property" of the city. The board of public welfare, formerly called "board of overseers of the poor," is listed by the charter of Lynn, Spec. St. 1917, c. 340, Section 20, among the "administrative officers" whom it is the duty of the city to provide and maintain. See also G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 117, Sections 1, 2. The entries in these records are "required to be made by law." It is provided by G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 117, Section 32, that "Boards of public welfare shall keep full and accurate records, in a form prescribed by the department of public welfare, of persons fully supported, persons relieved and partially supported, and travelers and vagrants lodged at the expense of their towns [includes cites, G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 4, Section 7, Thirty-fourth], and of the amount paid for such support and relief." In addition to this the charter of Lynn (Spec. St. 1917, c. 340, Section 49) provides that "All administrative boards and officers shall keep a record of their official transactions, which shall be open to public inspection." It follows from these statutes that (with exceptions due to recent statutory changes...