Public Records

Shawn Williams is the Records Access Officer (RAO) for the City of Boston.

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Under Massachusetts law, every person has a right to access public government records. Not all records are public, and you may need to pay a fee to get them.

Contact publicrecords@boston.gov if you have any questions, or if you need help getting records from the City of Boston.

Contact

1 City Hall Square
Room 615 Boston , MA 02201 United States Office hours Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Public records resources

Analyze Boston: Boston's Open Data Hub Appealing a denial of access to public records Boston Police public records requests City of Boston birth, death, and marriage records Guide to Mass. public records law Making a request for public records in Mass. Public records law: MA General Law Chapter 4, Section 7

Department contacts

617-635-4287 311 or 617-635-4500 Boston Planning & Development Agency 617-722-4300 City Council

Contact: Christine O'Donnell

617-635-1185 Fire Department 617-343-3550 Inspectional Services 617-635-5300 Parks and Recreation 617-635-4505 Police Department 617-343-6660 Public Health Commission 617-534-5395 Public Works 617-635-4900 Registry: Birth, death, and marriage records 617-635-4175 Transportation 617-635-4680 Water and Sewer Commission 617-989-7000

Cost of public records requests

Paper copies of records

City of Boston departments assume you would like electronic copies of records if we have them. The cost of black and white paper copies of documents is $.05 per page.

Research cost

There is no cost for the first two hours of time we need to find records. After two hours, the fee is usually no more than $25.00 per hour. When we review a request, we will provide you an estimate of how much the research will cost.