Shaffer, Maya v. Wilmington, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20150865)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords December 16, 2015 SPRlS/807, SPRlS/865 Mr. Robert Richter Deputy Chief of Police Town of Wilmington Police Department 121 Glen Road Wilmington, MA 01887 Dear Deputy Chief Richter: I have received the petition of Maya Shaffer of The Bay State Examiner appealing the response of Town of Wilmington Police Department (Department) to her requests for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Ms. Shaffer requested Department records. Ms. Shaffer appealed the Department's response with respect to her request for a copy of a voicemail message to Wilmington Police Chief Michael Begonis. Ms. Shaffer also appealed a fee estimate provided by the Department related to a request for copies of certain email correspondence to and from ChiefBegonis. Voicemail recording no longer exists In a telephone conversation on December 14, 2015 you explained to me that the voicemail message, left on the mobile phone ofChiefBegonis, was transitory in nature and was deleted. A records custodian may dispose of transitory messages without obtaining prior approval from the Supervisor of Records. Whereas the Department has no record responsive to this portion of Ms. Shaffer's request, I will consider this portion of her appeal closed. Fee estimate for email records 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 ($10.00), custodian of records shall provide written good faith estimate). Absent specific statutory authority to the contrary, the fees to be charged for complying with requests for public records are established by the Public Records Access Regulations (Regulations). See 950 C.M.R. 32.06 (fees for public records). Under the Regulations, a custodian of records may assess a maximum fee of twenty cents ($.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). OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Mr. Robert Richter SPR15/807, SPR15/865 Page Two December 16, 2015 The Department provided a fee estimate to Ms. Shaffer for provision of copies of email correspondence. In our December 14 telephone conversation you indicated the Department would waive any fees for the copies of the email records. In addition to the copying fee, 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 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 thetimeusedtoredactdatathatis 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). Ms. Shaffer objected to the use of segregation time in the fee estimate with respect to the responsive emails. You explained to me in our December 14 telephone conversation that the Chief searched through his emails to provide responsive records; no portion of the records was segregated as no portion of the responsive records was withheld. As such, no exemption claim by the Department was warranted. You further explained that, as the emails requested are from the Chief, he is the lowest paid person capable of reviewing his own email files to search for the responsive records. Conclusion Accordingly, whereas the voicemail message responsive to Ms. Shaffer's request no longer exists, and further whereas the Department assessed fees in compliance with the Regulations for a search of the responsive email records I wi consider this administrative appeal closed. cc: Ms. Maya Shaffer