Jason Meeks v. Department of Correction - MCI Concord (SPR 20171514)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords November 3, 2017 SPR17/1514 Jeanine Roth Records Manager Department of Corrections - MCI Concord 965 Elm Street - PO Box 9106 Concord, MA O1 74 2 Dear Ms. Roth: I have received the petition of Jason Meeks appealing the response of the Department of Corrections -MCI Concord (DOC) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Meeks requested "any and all, not limited all documents concerning, pursuant to investigation (INQ-2017-055) of staff misconduct here at MCI Concord." The DOC responded to his request, in part, providing a fee estimate. Subsequently, Mr. Meeks petitioned this office, appealing the fee estimate. Fee estimates Unless expressly provided for otherwise, a fee for the production of a public record must comply with the Public Records Law and its Regulations. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d ). An agency may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. Id. 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, § 10(d )(i). Agencies may not assess a fee for the first four hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested. G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(ii). Where appropriate, agencies 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. 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, § 10( d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d )(ii); 950 CMR 32.06(4). 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

Jeanine Roth SPRl 7/1514 Page2 November 3, 2017 The DOC's October 211 Fee Estilnate d In a letter dated October 2017, the DOC provided Mr. Meeks with a fee estimate, which includes a $96.00 charge for "Six Part Folder/Records Request. . .480 pages @ $.20 a page," a $30.44 charge for "Search and Segregation Time ... 1.5 hours @ 20.29 an hour," and indicates a total fee of $126.44. The Public Records Law and Regulations provide that fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a records request and custodians may charge a maximum of five cents per page for physical copies ofrecords provided to the requester. G. L. c. 66, § lO(d); 950 CMR 32.07. The DOC indicates a fee of twenty cents per page for the "Six Part Folder/Records Request." Based on the DOC's response, it is unclear if the DOC is providing physical copies to the requester. The DOC is advised that when providing physical copies of requested records to requesters, it may not charge the requester a fee in excess of actual cost of reproducing the records nor may it charge a fee of more than five cents a page. Additionally, the Public ltecords Law and Regulations provide that agencies shall not assess a fee for the first four hours of time spent to search for, compile, segregate, redact and reproduce a requested record. G. c. 66, § lO(d); 950 CMR 32.07. The DOC indicates it will require one and a half hours of "Search and Segregation Time." Whereas the D_OC does not require more than four hours of time to comply with the request, it may not charge the requester a fee to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the requested record. Accordingly, I find the DOC must revise its fee or provide fmiher explanation of how the fee assessed is expressly provided for and consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d ). Order I understand a Public Records Division staff member attempted to contact you about this matter. Accordingly, the DOC is ordered to provide Mr. Meeks with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten business days. 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. Mr. Meeks may appeal the substantive nature of the DOC's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, ~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Jason Meeks