C.J. Ferry v. Fall River, City of - Fire Department (SPR 20170336)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords March 17, 2017 SPR17/336 Chief John D. Lynch City of Fall River Fire Department 140 Commerce Drive Fall River, MA 02720 Dear Chief Lynch: I have received the petition of CJ Ferry appealing the response of the City of Fall River Fire Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Ferry requested reports pertaining to an "Opiate Awareness and Training Certification." Initially the Department provided a response dated March 6, 2017 with a fee estimate. Objecting to a fee for his request, Mr. Ferry pointed out that the Fall River City Councilor Linda Pereira had also made a request for the same records, therefore, there should not be any fee assessed. An appeal based on this objection was opened. Fee estimates A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d ). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(i). Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first (two) 2 hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested unless the municipality has 20,000 people or less. G. L. c. 66, § IO(d)(iii). Where appropriate, municipalities may include as part of the fee an hourly rate equal to or less than the hourly rate attributed to the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 per hour. Id. However, municipalities may charge more than $25 per hour if such rate is approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § IO(d)(iv). 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

Chief John D. Lynch SPRI 7/336 Page 2 March 17, 2017 A fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § IO(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § IO(d)(iii); 950 CMR 32.06(4). Mr. Ferry's March 15th petition to this office indicated that he was under the impression that "these records were requested by Fall River City Councilor Linda Pereira for review by her for the City Council in funding the FRFD Contract." As a result, he contends, "the requested information cannot have a fee assessed to it." Subsequent to the intervention by a member of the Public Records Division staff, you informed this office that the Department had responded to Mr. Ferry on March 15th negating his assertion about the Fall River City Councilor's request, by stating that "I have received no such request from a city councilor." Conclusion Whereas the Department indicated that there were no other requests and a fee estimate was prepared for Mr. Ferry if he wishes to proceed, accordingly, I will consider this administrative appeal closed. Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (10) business days. Mr. Ferry may appeal the substantive nature of any response received under the Public Records Law within ninety (90) days of receipt of the response. 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1 ). Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: CJ Ferry