Wallack, Todd v. Executive Office of Public Safety and Security - Department of State Police (SPR 20140748)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords February 23, 2015 SPR14/748 Ms. Jaclyn R. Zawada, Esq. Department of State Police Office of the Chief Legal Counsel 470 Worcester Road Framingham, MA 01702 Dear Attorney Zawada: I have received the petition of Todd Wallack of the Boston Globe appealing the response of the Department ofState Police (Department) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lO(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr Wallack requested a copy of"the Department's log/list of public records requests" for all years readily available. On December 3, 2014 the Department provided Mr. Wallack with the responsive records with certain information redacted. All fees associated with this request were waived. You explained that the time required to completely review the responsive records would result in costs for segregation of any exempt portions of the record. 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 ofperformingthe 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). Whereas Mr. Wallack has expressed interest in all portions of the record, the Department is advised that it must provide a good faith written estimate for review and provide nonexempt portions of the record. Accordingly, I will consider this administrative appeal closed with the proviso that the Department provide Mr. Wallack a fee estimate prepared in compliance with the Public Records Access Regulations. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832. Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma.us/pre

Ms. Jaclyn R. Zawada, Esq. SPR14/748 Page Two February 23, 2015 This administrative appeal is now closed. Superviso of Records cc: Mr. Todd Wallack