Butler, Deborah v. Framingham, City of (SPR 20150677)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords December 8, 2015 SPRlS/677 Ms. Jeanette Galliardt Town of Framingham Board of Selectmen 150 Concord Street, #121 Framingham, MA 01702 Dear Ms. Galliardt: I have received the petition of Deborah Butler appealing the response ofthe Town of Framingham Board of Selectmen (Board) to her request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Ms. Butler requested copies of draft meeting minutes of the Policy Subcommittee meeting on August 5, 2015. Ms. Butler was assessed a fee for copies, which she paid. Ms. Butler then appealed the Board's assessing a cost of fifty cents ($.50) for a computer generated record. A custodian of records may assess a reasonable fee for complying with a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2). Absent specific statutory authority to the contrary, the fees to be charged for complying with requests for public records are established by the Public Records Access Regulations (Regulations). See 950 C.M.R. 32.06 (fees for public records). Under the Regulations, a custodian of records may assess a maximum fee of twenty cents ($.20) per page for a photocopy of a public record and fifty cents ($.50) per page for a computer print out of a public record. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06(1 )(a). Ms. Butler was assessed fees for six pages at twenty cents ($.20) per page and five computer print out pages at fifty cents ($.50) per page. Whereas a c stodian is permitted to assess a fee of fifty cents ($.50) per page for computer print out rec rds, I find the costs assessed by the Board are in compliance with the Regulations. 1 mms upervisor of Records Ofi~A~fillJifdw!JlR~,~5bm 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre