Jeanne L. Holmes-Kireilis v. Brockton, City of - Law Department (SPR 20160003)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams · Supervisor ofR ecords January 14, 2016 SPR16/003 Mr. Phillip C. Nessralla, Jr., Esq. City Solicitor City of Brockton 45 School Street Brockton, MA 02301 Dear Attorney Nessralla: I have received the petition of Jeanne Holmes appealing the response of the City of Brockton (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lO(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Ms. Holmes requested "the opportunity to inspect and/or obtain a copy of all emails and entries associated with the Mayorbillcarpenter@gmail.com account." Upon receiving a fee estimate for provision of public records Ms. Holmes appealed. A custodian of records may assess a reasonable fee for complying with a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (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). 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 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, § 1O (a). OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Mr. Phillip C. Nessralla, Jr., Esq. SPR16/003 Page 2 January 14, 2016 Based on a January 7, 2016 telephone conversation with Attorney Katherine Feodoroff, Assistant City Solicitor, I understand you agree to review Ms. Holmes' request a second time and provide a revised fee estimate. Accordingly, I will consider this administrative appeal closed with the proviso that the City provides such an estimate within ten (1 0) days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. To assist the City in responding to requests for public records I have enclosed a copy of our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is also available on the Internet, free of charge, at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf. Attorneys on my staff are available during regular business hours to answer general questions regarding the Public Records Law. In addition, members of my staff will visit a records custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon request. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number bel#w· or ~rther information. - er rul yourst . I/ J .: ~lliruns . "-"'"""c',;visor of Records cc: Ms. Jeanne Holmes