Michael Dreslinski v. Holden, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20160224)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords April12, 2016 SPR16/224 Mr. David A. Armstrong Chief of Police Town of Holden 1370 Main Street Holden, MA 021520 Dear Chief Armstrong: I have received the petitions of Michael Dreslinski appealing responses of the Town of Holden Police Department (Department) to an October 2, 2015 request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Dreslinski sought clarification regarding its response to his August 14, 2015 request for records. With his petition to this office Mr. Dreslinski provided a January 25, 2016 estimate from the Police Department which he believed was responsive to his October 2 request. This estimate included fees of $202.35 for fifty-seven (57) pages of records, as well as a fee of $31.52 for a "redacted audio cd." It is not clear from my review whether this response relates to either the August or October request. Mr. Dreslinski appealed this fee estimate, stating his belief that the fees for records provided by municipal police departments are determined by statute, rather than by the Public Records Access Regulations. See G. L. c. 66, § 10 (a); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06; SPR15/835 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (December 16, 2015). Fees for copies ofpublic 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 ($10.00), custodian of records shall provide written good faith estimate). Absent specific statutory authority to the contrary, the fees to be charged for complying with requests for public records are established by the Public Records Access Regulations (Regulations). See 950 C.M.R. 32.06 (fees for public records). Under the Regulations, a custodian of records may assess a maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy 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

Chief David A. Armstrong SPR16/224 Page 2 April 12, 2016 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, § 10(a). Municipal police departments may respond to requests for public records by providing fee estimates as indicated by statute: ... The following fees shall apply to any public record in the custody of the state police, the Massachusetts bay transportation authority police or any municipal police department or fire department: for preparing and mailing a motor vehicle accident report, five dollars for not more than six pages and fifty cents for each additional page; for preparing and mailing a fire insurance report, five dollars for not more than six pages plus fifty cents for each additional page; for preparing and mailing crime, incident or miscellaneous reports, one dollar per page; for furnishing any public record, in hand, to a person requesting such records, fifty cents per page. A page shall be defined as one side of an eight and one-half inch by eleven inch sheet of paper. G. L. c. 66, 10(a) The statute states that municipal police departments may charge a fee of$1.00 per page "for preparing and mailing" certain reports. Municipal police departments may charge $.50 for copies of records provided "in hand." Whereas the provisions of this section permit a $1.00 fee for preparation of records, a municipal police department is not permitted to assess an additional fee for search and segregation. Further, whereas the statute provides for "preparing and mailing," a municipal police department is not permitted to charge an additional fee for postage. Order I find the Police Department has failed to provide a fee estimate as indicated by statute. Accordingly, the Police Department is hereby ordered, within ten (10) days ofthis order, to provide Mr. Dreslinski with a revised response to his March 26, 2016 request for records. The response by the Police Department must be prepared in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, its Regulations and other applicable law. If the Police Department maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (1 0) days provide to Mr. Dreslinski a written explanation, with specificity, how a particular exemption applies to each record. To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted

Chief David A. Armstrong SPR16/224 Page 3 April12, 2016 portion of the responsive record. 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 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 records custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon re uest. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this determination for further information. cc: Mr. Michael Dreslinski