§ 35DDD — Public Records Assistance Fund

Section 35DDD. There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a Public Records Assistance Fund, which shall be administered by the Massachusetts office of information technology. The fund shall be credited with:(i) all punitive damages assessed pursuant to paragraph (4) of subsection (d) of section 10A of chapter 66;(ii) any appropriations, bond proceeds or other monies authorized or transferred by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund;(iii) gifts, grants and other private contributions designated to be credited to the fund;(iv) all other amounts credited or transferred to the fund from any other fund or source; and(v) interest or investment earnings on any such monies. Amounts credited to the fund may be expended by the chief information officer, without further appropriation, to provide grants to municipalities to support the information technology capabilities of municipalities to foster best practices for increasing access to public records and facilitating compliance with said chapter 66.The unexpended balance in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund but shall remain available for expenditure in subsequent fiscal years. No expenditure made from the fund shall cause the fund to become deficient at any point.