official-source-policy.md

Official Source Policy

The toolkit should use official sources for article analysis, motion tracking, and meeting review.

Authoritative Source Types

Use these sources when available:

• Commonwealth of Massachusetts official laws and regulations.
• Town Meeting Time, 4th Edition, as published or linked by the Massachusetts Moderators Association.
• The town charter, town bylaws, zoning bylaws, and adopted Town Meeting rules.
• Official town website pages for the relevant Town Meeting.
• Official warrant, motion, amendment, substitute motion, procedural motion, recommendation book, minutes, action report, and vote result documents.
• Official committee materials published by the town or linked from the town's official Town Meeting page.

Natick Test Sources

Natick source manifests should start from:

• Town Meeting Information: https://www.natickma.gov/375/Town-Meeting-Information
• 2026 Spring Annual Town Meeting: https://www.natickma.gov/2347/2026-Spring-Annual-Town-Meeting
• 2025 Fall Annual Town Meeting: https://www.natickma.gov/2287/2025-Fall-Annual-Town-Meeting
• 2025 Spring Annual Town Meeting: https://www.natickma.gov/2228/2025-Spring-Annual-Town-Meeting
• Natick Finance Committee: https://sites.google.com/natickma.org/fincom
• Massachusetts General Laws: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws

Handling Non-Official Sources

Non-official sources may be useful for discovery, but they must not be used as factual support in article briefs unless independently verified against an official source. If a claim cannot be tied to an official source, mark it as unresolved rather than summarizing it as fact.

Accepted Unofficial Vote Results

Unofficial vote-result files may be included for Natick testing when all of the following are true:

• The source is linked from the official Natick Town Meeting page.
• The file is hosted in the Finance Committee Google workspace or another town-controlled workspace.
• The manifest marks the source as official: false and accepted_unofficial: true.
• Generated briefs label the source as accepted unofficial and do not describe it as an official final action.

These sources may support retrospective vote-result context, but they should not override official minutes, official action reports, or Town Clerk records.

Provenance Requirements

Every generated brief should include:

• Source URL or local source file path.
• Source type.
• Retrieval date.
• Whether the source is official.
• Notes on missing or conflicting materials.

When a source document changes, retain the prior downloaded artifact if legally and practically possible, and record the new retrieval date.