MARSHFIELD — August 31, 2026 — Facing an escalating backlog of public records requests and a complete operational breakdown between departments, the Marshfield Select Board voted unanimously to appoint Town Administrator Ted Langill as the town’s Records Access Officer and issued an ultimatum ordering Town Clerk Narice Casper to turn over all administrative login credentials to the town’s records software by noon the following day.
The Full Story
A simmering dispute over municipal transparency reached a flashpoint Monday night when the Select Board took administrative control of the town’s public records compliance. The clash centers on the position of “Super RAO”—the designated official tasked with logging, routing, and fulfilling state public records and FOIA requests submitted through the town’s FOIA Direct software portal.
According to Town Administrator Ted Langill, Town Clerk Narice Casper took the position that her term as Records Access Officer concluded on June 30, 2026, following the removal of a $12,000 annual stipend for the role during the municipal budget cycle. As a result, critical requests for public records—including detailed financial data sought by residents ahead of Tuesday’s $7 million Proposition 2½ operational override vote—have languished unrouted for weeks.
Langill explained that while town staff and Executive Assistant Chelsea DaCosta have engaged in informal triage to process requests, he has been locked out of the software without administrator-level access. Inquiries directed to the clerk’s office, internal municipal IT, and the former Town Administrator failed to clarify administrative control. Town Counsel Robert Galvin advised the board that Massachusetts General Laws allow the municipal clerk, the clerk’s designee, or an appointee of the chief executive body to serve as the records officer. In the absence of action from the independently elected clerk, Galvin noted, the responsibility defaults directly to the Select Board to name an officer.
Vice Chair Eric Kelley expressed sharp frustration over the resulting bottleneck, pointing out that citizens had been left unanswered while assuming administrative staff were ignoring inquiries. Kelley called for decisive action rather than protracted negotiations, pushing the board to mandate the surrender of system passwords. Clerk Chris Rowland echoed the concern, noting that public access to municipal documents is a fundamental legal right and suggesting administrative channels must be enforced.
“She’s not going to hold us captive on this situation if everything is true that I’m hearing, that she has the total control of this portal. She needs to relinquish it... Cough up that password, turn control over to the Select Board’s office by eight o’clock tomorrow morning and then be done with it.” — Eric Kelley
To resolve the impasse, the board voted 3-0 to appoint Langill as the interim Records Access Officer, ordered the Town Clerk’s office to deliver all administrative credentials to the FOIA Direct portal to Town Hall administration by 12:00 p.m. on September 1, 2026, and instructed Langill to present a permanent operational plan for public records compliance at their September 14 meeting.
