Williams, Leroy v. Director, Office of Media Relations (SPR 20140050)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords February 7, 2014 SPR14/050 Mr. Leroy Williams MCI Shirley P.O. Box 1218 Shirley, MA 01464 Dear Mr. Williams: I have received your petition appealing the response of the City of Boston Police Department (Department) to your request for records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, you challenge the Department policy of not waiving fees due to a requestor's indigence. Please note that the Public Records Law does not distinguish between requesters, your indigent status does not require a records custodian to provide public records free of charge. Records custodians are encouraged, but not required, to waive fees where disclosure is in the public interest. 950 C.M.R 32.06(5). However, records custodians assessing a fee must do so in accordance with any applicable statutory provisions and the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations (Regulations). G. L. c. 66, § IO(a); 950 C.M.R. 32.06. Fees A custodian of records may assess a reasonable fee for complying with a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § IO(a); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2) (where cost of complying with a request for public records is expected to exceed ten dollars ($10.00), custodian of records shall provide written good faith estimate). 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 (fees for public records). 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 of performing the task. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(1)(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. See 950 C.M.R. 32.03. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832. Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Mr. Leroy Williams SPR14/050 Page Two February 7, 2014 Given that the Public Records Law does not distinguish between requesters and the Supervisor of Records does not have the authority to order a waiver of fees, this administrative appeal is now closed. illiams Supervisor ofRecords cc: City Of Boston- Boston Police Department