Stout, Matthew v. Department of Children and Families (SPR 20140049)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords February 14, 2014 SPR14/049 Ms. Virginia A. Peel, Esq. General Counsel 600 Washington Street Boston, MA 02111 Dear Attorney Peel: I have received the petition of Matthew Stout of the Boston Herald appealing the response of the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Stout requested copies of certain communications regarding the Office of the Child Advocate 2013 annual report. Mr. Stout was provided with a verbal fee estimate. A custodian of records may assess a reasonable fee for complying with a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2). Absent specific statutory authority to the contrary, the fees to be charged for complying with requests for public records are established by the Public Records Access Regulations (Regulations). See 950 C.M.R. 32.06. Under the Regulations, a custodian of records may assess a maximum fee of twenty cents ($.20) per page for a photocopy of a public iecord and fifty cents ($.50) per page for a computer print out of a public record. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06(1)(a). In addition to the copying fee, the Regulations provide that in cases where search or segregation time is necessary a custodian of records may charge a pro-rated fee based on the hourly rate of the lowest paid employee who is capable ofperfom1ing the task. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(l)(c). The Regulations define "search time" as the time needed to locate, pull from the file, copy and refile public records, and "segregation time" as the time used to redact data that is exempt from non-exempt material. 950 C.M.R. 32.03. The search and segregation fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request G. L. c. 66, § 1O (a). OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Ms. Virginia A. Peel, Esq. SPR14/049 Page Two Febmary 14, 2014 It has come to my attention that Mr. Stout has requested a fee waiver. The Public Records Access Regulations encourage records custodians to waive fees when such a waiver is in the public interest, however, this office may not compel a records custodian to do so. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06. As to the fees, I am unable to detem1ine whether the fees assessed are appropriate, as DCF failed to provide a written fee estimate. A custodian of records is required to provide a written estimate if fees for public records are expected to exceed $10.00. It is my understanding that the fees to respond to Mr. Stout's request are far in excess of this minimum, therefore I find that DCF has not complied with the Regulations. Accordingly, DCF is hereby ordered to provide Mr. Stout a written, good faith estimate, prepared in a manner consistent with this order and the Regulations, within ten (10) days. This administrative appeal is now closed. Shawn A. Williams Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Matthew Stout