David Myers v. Everett, City of - Police Department (SPR 20160123)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords March 10, 2016 SPR16/123 Captain Paul Landry City of Everett Police Department 45 Elm Street Everett, MA 02149 Dear Chief Landry: I have received the petition of David Meyers appealing the response of City of Everett Police Department (Department) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, on August 31, 2015 Mr. Myers requested copies of certain transactions receipts. In a response dated January 25, 2016 the Department provided Mr. Myers with a good faith fee estimate for the provision of records responsive to his request. Thereupon, Mr. Myers submitted his petition challenging the fee estimate. A custodian of records may assess a reasonable fee for complying with a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lO(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 ($1 0.00), 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. In its response the Department assessed a fee of $1.00 per page for copies of responsive records. The Department did not cite a statutory basis for this fee. The Department also assessed a fee for search and segregation of responsive records, pursuant to the Regulations. The Department appears to have used the authority from the section of the Massachusetts General Laws associated with the preparation and mailing of police records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10 ( a). The fees contained in the statute include "preparing and mailing" miscellaneous records; as this fee includes "preparing" records, the Department is not permitted to also assess an hourly rate for searching and segregating those same records. Accordingly, whereas I find the Department erred in its preparation of a fee estimate for public records, the Department is hereby ordered to provide a revised fee estimate, revised in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and the Regulations. This revised estimate must be provided within ten (1 0) days. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Captain Paul Landry SPR16/123 Page 2 March 10, 2016 To assist in requesting and responding to requests for public records please refer to our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is 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 rec~r s custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon re est. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this det i tio for further information. ~ I cc: Mr. David Myers