Kettenbach v. Board of Bar Overseers

Summary

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed dismissal of Michael L. Kettenbach’s complaint seeking records from the Board of Bar Overseers and bar counsel under the Massachusetts public records law. The court held that the public records law, as construed by applicable regulations, does not apply to entities within the judiciary, including the Board of Bar Overseers and bar counsel.

Holdings

1. The public records law does not apply to the Board of Bar Overseers or bar counsel because the statute and implementing regulations exclude the judiciary from the governmental entities covered by the law.
2. Dismissal was proper because, even accepting the complaint's factual allegations as true, the requested documents were not subject to disclosure under the public records law.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Board of Bar Overseers and bar counsel, as entities within the judicial branch, are subject to the Massachusetts public records law.
2. Whether the county court properly dismissed Kettenbach's public-records complaint under Mass. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6).

Disposition

affirmed