Corbett, Suzanne v. Town of Ashfield, Finance Committee (SPR 20150137)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor of Records April 27, 2015 SPR15/137

Mr. Edwin Murray

Town of Ashfield - Finance Committee Town Hall

412 Main Street

Ashfield, MA 01330-0560

Dear Mr. Murray:

I have received the petition of Suzanne Corbett appealing the response of the Town of Ashfield Finance Committee (Town) to her request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Ms. Corbett requested a copy of:

1. All paper and electronic correspondence by and between Deborah Nicholson, Finance Committee Chair and members of the Committee and the keeper of records from April 1, 2014 to October 24, 2014, and

2. All paper and electronic correspondence by any members of the Finance Committee, Select Board members or Executive Administrator to the Select Board relating to Ms. Nicholson’s correspondences during the period of April 1, 2014 to October 24, 2014.

Your letter of November 3, 2014 provided Ms. Corbett with a written, good faith estimate to cover the costs of complying with her public records request. Your estimate included 1.5 hours at $16.32 per hour, stating “research for and preparation of this letter” totaling $24.48 for those tasks. The Town also assessed a fee for sending the records via certified mail at a cost of $14.00. Ms. Corbett petitioned this office for a review of your estimate.

A custodian of records may charge for costs of complying with a public records request, however those fees must be reasonable and in compliance with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. G. L. c. 66, § 10; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06. Please be advised that the Town cannot charge a requester for the time it takes to review or research the tenets of the Public Records Law, nor can the Town charge for preparation of a written response or estimate on a public records request. Town employees as well as members of boards and commissions should educate themselves on the Public Records Law as part of their public service. Furthermore, responding to public records requests is part of the day to day business of the town employees and members of the Town’s boards and commission. Therefore, the Town must revise its

One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 - (617) 727-2832 - Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma.us/pre

Mr. Edwin Murray SPR15/137 Page Two April 27, 2015

estimate by removing any charges for “research for and preparation of this letter.”

A review of your estimate also reveals the Town charged Ms. Corbett for the cost of sending her the records via certified mail. The Town may charge postal fees, however it can only charge for the actual cost of postage at the regular postal rate, not the certified mail fee. Ms. Corbett did not specifically ask the Town to send the records via certified mail, and the Access Regulations do not require the Town to send records certified mail.

Accordingly, the Town is ordered to revise its written estimate by eliminating the charge for research and preparation of the response/estimate, remove the charge for certified mail and detail the amount to time for search and copying of electronic versus written records, and provide the revised estimate to Ms. Corbett within ten (10) days.

Failure to comply with this administrative order may re ult in Ms. Corbett filing a complaint in Superior Court for enforcement. This appeal j

i

A. Williams Supervisor of Records

cc: Ms. Suzanne Corbett