La Bella, Marcelino v. University of Massachusetts - Medical School (SPR 20150616)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords December 8, 2015 SPRlS/616 Mr. Peter Michelson, Esq. Deputy General Counsel Office of the General Counsel University of Massachusetts 225 Franklin Street, 1ih Floor Boston, MA 0221 0 Dear Attorney Michelson: I have received the petition of Marcelino La Bella appealing the response of the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMass Medical) to his requests for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. La Bella requested approximately thirty (30) itemized categories of records. Upon receiving a fee estimate Mr. La Bella appealed. 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). The Regulations provide that in cases where search or segregation time is necessary a custodian ofrecords may charge a pro-rated fee based on the hourly rate of the lowest paid employee who is capable of performing 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). OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Mr. Peter Michelson, Esq. SPR15/616 Page Two December 8, 2015 By email on November 24, you provided Mr. La Bella and this office with a revised estimate which reduced the total cost of searching for and providing copies of the records. I find that the November 24 estimate is reasonable and in complianc with the Regulations. Once the fees are paid, you must provide the responsive records. Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Marcelino La Bella