Manning, Thomas v. Lynnfield, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20140685)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords January 5, 2015 SPR14/685 Chief David J. Breen Town of Lynnfield- Police Department 55 Summer Street Lynnfield, MA 01940 Dear Chief Breen: I have received the petition of Thomas Manning appealing the response of Town of Lynnfield- Police Department (Department) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Manning requested copies of records regarding motorcycle noise violations. Mr. Manning was charged a $25.00 fee for the provision of records responsive to his request. He paid the fee and upon receipt of the responsive records he filed this appeal challenging the amount paid. 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 ($1 0.00), 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). 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 oft he lowest paid employee who is capable ofp erforming 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. 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). One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832. Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Chief David J. Breen SPR14/685 Page Two January 5, 2015 In your November 12, 2014letter regarding the fee charged to Mr. Manning you explained that the charge for search time (retrieval and copying of records) should have been calculated at $36.43 per hour in overtime charges which would have resulted in a charge of $54.66 instead of the $25.00 actual charge. It should be noted that a custodian may charge for search time and copies, however these fees must be reasonable and in compliance with the Regulations set forth in the Public Records Law. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06 (fees for public records). Unless specific statutory authority to the contrary, the fees to be charged for complying with public records requests are prescribed by the Regulations. In this case, the Department cites no statute to authorize it to assess search fees other than those prescribed by the Regulations. Consequently, you are ordered to provide a Mr. Manning with a revised fee estimate in accordance with this determination, the Public Records Law and Public Records Access Regulations. If the actual costs are less than funds that have been received from Mr. Manning, the Department must provide him with a refund of the difference. Accordingly, I will consider this appeal closed. Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Thomas Manning