Williams, Christian v. Fall River, City of - Police Department (SPR 20140373)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords October 3, 2014 SPR14/373 Lieutenant Ron Furtado Fall River Police Department 685 Pleasant Street Fall River, MA 02721-4305 Dear Lt. Furtado: I have received the petition of Christian A. Williams, Committee for Public Counsel Services, Public Defender Division appealing the response of the Fall River Police Department (Department) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Williams requested "certified copies of the public portions of the internal affairs records" for several specifically identified Department personnel. In response, Lt. Kevin Tetrault provided a fee estimate. Mr. Williams objected to this fee estimate. In a telephone conversation Mr. Williams explained that he believed the estimate was not prepared in compliance with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. 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) (where cost of complying with a request for public records is expected to exceed ten dollars ($10.00), custodian of records shall provide written good faith estimate). Absent specific statutory authority to the contrary, the fees to be charged for complying with requests for public records are established by the Public Records Access Regulations (Regulations). See 950 C.M.R. 32.06 (fees for public records). Under the Regulations, a custodian of records may assess a maximum fee of twenty cents ($.20) per page for a photocopy of a public record and fifty cents ($.50) per page for a computer printout 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 of performing the task. See 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 OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Lt. Ron Furtado SPR14/373 Page Two October 3, 2014 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, § 10(a). In a September 30, 2014 telephone conversation you explained that the Department has recently updated and revised its policy with respect to responding to public records requests. You further explained that as a result of this policy change you intended to provide Mr. Williams with an updated fee estimate, prepared in compliance with the Regulations. Accordingly, I will consider this administrative appeal closed with the proviso that the Department provide Mr. Williams with a revised, good faith estimate within ten (1 0) days. Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Christian A. Williams