Massachusetts Public Records Law
E670239
Massachusetts Public Records Law is a state statute that guarantees public access to most government records in Massachusetts, promoting transparency and accountability in state and local government.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Massachusetts Public Records Law canonical | 2 |
| Massachusetts public records law | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T7509599 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Massachusetts Public Records Law Context triple: [Massachusetts law, hasNotableStatute, Massachusetts Public Records Law]
-
A.
Massachusetts Public Records Division
The Massachusetts Public Records Division is a state government office responsible for administering and enforcing the Commonwealth’s public records law, including handling records requests, appeals, and guidance for agencies and the public.
-
B.
Massachusetts law
Massachusetts law is the body of state statutes, regulations, and judicial decisions that governs legal rights and obligations within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
-
C.
Massachusetts Register
The Massachusetts Register is the official biweekly publication that provides updates, notices, and changes to Massachusetts state regulations and administrative rules.
-
D.
Massachusetts Law Library
The Massachusetts Law Library is a public legal research library in Massachusetts that provides access to statutes, case law, and other legal resources for attorneys, judges, and the general public.
-
E.
Massachusetts General Laws
Massachusetts General Laws are the codified statutes that form the primary body of statutory law governing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Massachusetts Public Records Law Target entity description: Massachusetts Public Records Law is a state statute that guarantees public access to most government records in Massachusetts, promoting transparency and accountability in state and local government.
-
A.
Massachusetts Public Records Division
The Massachusetts Public Records Division is a state government office responsible for administering and enforcing the Commonwealth’s public records law, including handling records requests, appeals, and guidance for agencies and the public.
-
B.
Massachusetts law
Massachusetts law is the body of state statutes, regulations, and judicial decisions that governs legal rights and obligations within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
-
C.
Massachusetts Register
The Massachusetts Register is the official biweekly publication that provides updates, notices, and changes to Massachusetts state regulations and administrative rules.
-
D.
Massachusetts Law Library
The Massachusetts Law Library is a public legal research library in Massachusetts that provides access to statutes, case law, and other legal resources for attorneys, judges, and the general public.
-
E.
Massachusetts General Laws
Massachusetts General Laws are the codified statutes that form the primary body of statutory law governing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (50)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Massachusetts statute
ⓘ
freedom of information law ⓘ |
| administeredBy |
Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth
ⓘ
Public Records Division of the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth ⓘ
linked to:
Massachusetts Public Records Division
|
| allows | agencies to charge certain fees for responding to public records requests ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
audio records
ⓘ
data stored in databases ⓘ electronic records ⓘ paper records ⓘ photographic records ⓘ records made or received by a government entity ⓘ records made or received by certain government employees ⓘ video records ⓘ |
| appliesToJurisdiction |
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
ⓘ
linked to:
Massachusetts
|
| appliesToLevelOfGovernment |
local government in Massachusetts
ⓘ
state government of Massachusetts ⓘ
linked to:
Government of Massachusetts
|
| contains | exemptions to disclosure ⓘ |
| definesTerm | public records ⓘ |
| enforcedBy |
Supervisor of Records in the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office
ⓘ
linked to:
Massachusetts Public Records Division
|
| establishes |
appeal procedures for denied public records requests
ⓘ
deadlines for responding to public records requests ⓘ grounds for denying public records requests ⓘ procedures for making public records requests ⓘ |
| exemptionIncludes |
certain policy deliberation materials
ⓘ
investigatory materials compiled by law enforcement ⓘ personnel and medical files where disclosure may constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy ⓘ records specifically exempted from disclosure by statute ⓘ trade secrets and confidential commercial or financial information ⓘ |
| governsAccessTo | public records ⓘ |
| hasPurpose |
to guarantee public access to most government records in Massachusetts
ⓘ
to promote accountability in government ⓘ to promote transparency in government ⓘ |
| hasScopeLimitation |
does not generally apply to the Massachusetts judiciary’s adjudicatory records
ⓘ
does not generally apply to the Massachusetts legislature ⓘ |
| influencedBy | open government and transparency principles ⓘ |
| legalCitation |
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 66
ⓘ
linked to:
Massachusetts General Laws
|
| limits | the amount and type of fees that may be charged for public records ⓘ |
| providesFor |
administrative appeal to the Supervisor of Records
ⓘ
judicial review in Massachusetts courts ⓘ |
| relatedStatute |
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 4 Section 7 clause Twenty-six
ⓘ
linked to:
Massachusetts General Laws
|
| relatedTo |
federal Freedom of Information Act
ⓘ
linked to:
Freedom of Information Act
|
| requires |
agencies to assist requesters in making focused and effective requests
ⓘ
agencies to provide records in electronic form when feasible ⓘ constitutional officers to provide access to public records upon request ⓘ independent state authorities to provide access to public records upon request ⓘ municipal agencies to provide access to public records upon request ⓘ records custodians to maintain and preserve public records ⓘ records custodians to respond to public records requests ⓘ state agencies to provide access to public records upon request ⓘ |
| subjectOf | 2016 legislative reforms to strengthen enforcement and access ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Massachusetts Public Records Law Description of subject: Massachusetts Public Records Law is a state statute that guarantees public access to most government records in Massachusetts, promoting transparency and accountability in state and local government.
Referenced by (3)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
linked to: Massachusetts Public Records Law