Taylor, Antoinette v. Office of the Attorney General - Non-Profit Organizations/Public Charities Division (SPR 20140404)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords August 27, 2014 SPR14/404 Ms. Antoinette Taylor 1082 Dotland Circle Shelbyville, KY 40065 Dear Ms. Taylor: I have received your petition appealing the response of the Office of the Attorney General (AGO) to your request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, you requested copies of records related to a specific matter investigated by the AGO. Subsequent to your communications with the AGO you modified your request. On June 18, 2014, five days after submission of your request, an Assistant Attorney General in the Fair Labor Division at the AGO responded to your request by telephone and in writing to notify you that the AGO was in the process of identifying records that may be responsive to your request. The AGO identified all the records responsive to your request, including records that are housed in an archived facility. Under the Public Records Access Regulations (Regulations) a records custodian must provide a written estimate of fees for copying, search time and segregation time where costs of complying with a public records request is expected to exceed ten dollars. 950 C.M.R. 32.06. Whereas the fees by the AGO were estimated to be in excess often dollars, on July 14, 2014, the AGO provided a fee estimate to you in response to your June 20, 2014 revised request. The AGO estimated that the total cost of providing the records is $108.16, which includes search time, photocopying, segregation/redaction and review by an attorney, and mailing costs. The AGO assessed one hour at eighteen dollars per hour for the lowest paid administrative assistant, one hour at twenty dollars per hour for the lowest paid paralegal, and thirty minutes at thirty dollars per hour for the lowest paid attorney in the Fair Labor Division. A custodian of records may charge fees for search, segregation, copies and postage, as long as the fees are reasonable and in compliance with the Public Records Access Regulations. See 950 C.M.R. 32.00. The requester is required to pay the cost ofthe estimate, before the custodian is required to provide records. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Ms. Antoinette Taylor SPR14/404 Page Two August 27, 2014 I find that the AGO complied with your request in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Regulations. Once you pay the estimated amount, the AGO will provide you with the records. This administrative appeal is now closed. Supervisor of Records cc: Ms. Lillian Hirales, Esq. Ms. Lorraine A.G. Tarrow, Esq.