Ronald Alexander v. Wellesley, Town of - Board of Selectmen (SPR 20161146)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A Williams Supervisor of Records December 19, 2016 SPR16/1146 Hans Larsen Town of Wellesley Board of Selectmen 325 Washington Street, 3rd Floor Wellesley, MA 02482 Dear Mr. Larsen: I have received the petition of Ronald Alexander appealing the response of the Town of Wellesley (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1 O(b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Alexander requested to inspect "all legal bills and invoices submitted to the Town of Wellesley by the Wellesley Town Counsel for fiscal year 2016." Over the course of several emails the Town provided Mr. Alexander with a fee estimate for the provision of records responsive to his request. Mr. Alexander appealed. Fees 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). 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). One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre • pre@sec.state.ma.us

Hans Larsen SPR16/1146 Page 2 December 19, 2016 If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. 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). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. 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 request. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this determination for further information. Order I understand a member of my staff contacted your office and provided a copy of the file related to this appeal. Accordingly, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed with the proviso that the Town provide Mr. Alexander with a supplemental response to his request addressing his concerns. This response must be in accordance with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations. 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. cc: Ronald Alexander