Wayland Launches New Portal For Public Records Access

WAYLAND, MA — Wayland residents seeking access to town records have a new, potentially easier way to do it.

The town this week began using a portal called RequestFOIA, where residents can make requests, and keep track of ones they've made previously. It's a more streamlined way to make requests compared to the old way — which was just sending an email to Town Clerk Trudy Reid.

The new system will also make records requests easier for the town to manage. Under state law, municipalities have to meet specific deadlines when responding to requests and providing records.

"It is my hope that with this new software, the town can further modernize the process of accessing public records," Reid said in a news release. "Further, this software will enable the public to view/research previously requested records requests which will in-turn allows town offices to reallocate resources to other areas of need. We have worked hard to ensure that the new software will help improve what has historically been a challenging multistep process for municipalities and the public alike."

The new system also displays all previous records requests made to the town, so residents can see what's being requested. (The only request in the archive as of Thursday was one made by Wayland Patch for records related to a police officer, although it turns out he worked in Webster.)

RequestFOIA is a Burlington-based company. Check out Wayland's new public records portal here.