Andrew McIsaac v. Norfolk County Agricultural High School (SPR 20170032)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords January 9, 2017 SPR17/032 Richard D. Fitzpatrick, Jr. Business Manager Norfolk County Agricultural High School 400 Main Street Walpole, MA 02081 Dear Mr. Fitzpatrick: I have received the petition of Andrew Mcisaac appealing the response of the Norfolk County Agricultural High School (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(A); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Mcisaac requested a copy of"all e-mail messages generated in September 2016" from a specifically identified email address. A representative from the school replied to Mr. Mcisaac, citing a one-thousand and two dollars and thirty-two cent ($1,002.32) fee in order to attain these records. Mr. Mcisaac filed an appeal with his office, rejecting the nature of the School's response. 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 ($10.00), custodian of records shall provide written good faith estimate). Absent specific statutory authority to the contrary~. the fees to be charged for complying with requests for public records are established by the Public Records Access Regulations (Regulations). See 950 C.M.R. 32.06 (fees for public records). Under the current Regulations, a custodian of records may assess a maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06(l)(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(l)(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 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

Richard D. Fitzpatrick, Jr. SPR17/032 Page2 January 9, 2017 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). Based on the School's response, dated January 5, 2017, they intend to charge Mr. Mcisaac a fee of one-thousand and two dollars and thirty-two cents ($1,002.32) for all pertinent records. The School, however did not explain why a $25.00 dollar per hour rate is implemented; the law specifies that the rate must equal that of the lowest paid person capable of performing the task. Also, the School is hereby advised that it is not permitted to assess a fee above the $.05 per page amount indicated in the Regulations. I find the School has failed to meet its burden in providing a fee estimate. Since opening this appeal, I learned that the School intends to provide Mr. Mcisaac with a supplemental response. Accordingly, I will consider this administrative appeal closed with the proviso that the School provide said response without delay. 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(a)sec.state.ma. us. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Andrew Mcisaac