Code of Massachusetts Regulations
840 CMR - PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT ADMINISTRATION COMMISSION
Title 840 CMR 6.00 - Standard Rules For Disclosure Of Information
Section 6.07 - Access to Personal Data in Retirement Files by Members

(1) Request for Notification of Holding. The Custodian, upon request of a member or his or her authorized representative, shall inform the member in writing, within 20 days of receipt of a request, whether the retirement board holds, or has held within the previous 24 months, any personal data concerning the member.

(2) Access to Personal Data. A member or his or her authorized representative shall be granted access to all personal data in the member's retirement file except where prohibited by law or judicial order and except as provided in 840 CMR 6.07(3). In making any disclosure of personal data to a member pursuant to 840 CMR 6.07, the Custodian may remove personal identifiers relating to a third person, except where such third person is an officer or employee of government acting as such and the member is not. The Custodian shall not rely on any exception contained in M.G.L. c. 4, § 7(26) to withhold from a member personal data otherwise accessible to him or her under 840 CMR 6.00.

(3) Investigative Data. Except as specifically authorized by the Custodian with the approval of the retirement board, a member or his or her authorized representative shall not be granted access to any information in the member's retirement file which is currently the subject of an investigation and the disclosure of which would probably so prejudice the possibility of effective law enforcement that such disclosure would not be in the public interest. Such information may be withheld for the time it takes the investigatory agency to complete its investigation and commence an administrative or judicial proceeding on its basis. 840 CMR 6.07(3) shall not affect any rights to access the member may have under administrative or judicial discovery procedures.

(4) Notification of Denial of Access. If access to personal data is denied, the Custodian shall notify the member in writing of such denial, shall state the reasons for such denial, and shall describe the right to appeal provided in 840 CMR 6.14(2).