Amy McGuire Kates v. Cotuit, Town of - Fire District (SPR 20171715)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records December 22, 201 7 SPR17/1715 Charles Eager Clerk Cotuit Fire District 64 High Street Cotuit, MA 0263 5 Dear Mr. Eager: I have received the petition of Amy Kates appealing the response of the Cotuit Fire District (District) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Kates requested "invoices received from any attorneys retained by the Board of Fire Commissioners, to include the reasons for the requests for representation, for the period of 7/1/16 through 6/30/17." The District provided a fee estimate of $49.94 for the production of the records. Fee estimates A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § IO(d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § IO(d)(i). Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first two 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, § 10(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, § 10(d )(iv). 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 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

Charles Eager SPRl 7/1715 Page2 December 22; 2017 petition under G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii); 950 CMR 32.06(4). 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 at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdflguide.pdf. Public Records Division attorneys are available during regular business hours to answer general questions regarding the Public Records Law. In addition, Public Records Division staff will. visit a records custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon request. Please contact the Public Records Division directly at the telephone number provided in this determination for further information. The District's December 6th Supplemental Response In response to SPRl 7/ 1566, the District provided Ms: Kates with a supplemental response to their revised fee estimate of $49 .94. See SPRl 7 /14 70. They explained "the labor cost would come frorn the Assistant Treasurer searching through each warrant for the year to determine if a bill was received for attorney's fees." The District indicates the Assistant Treasurer would then have to "make sure the total equaled the legal expense total for the year." The District indicates "[t]he Treasurer would then have to review each invoice to determine if any redaction is needed for exceptions to public records law." Further, "the Treasury estimates there would be over 100 invoices." Ms. Kates appealed the response of the District on the basis that she believes it should not require an hour to complete her request explaining "it should only take a quick search underthe (general ledger) line item 'legal expenses.'" She also notes that the invoices have gone from "3 5 invoices to a total of 100 invoices." Further, she questions the District choosing to send the documents by certified mail and indicates the records could be emailed to her. I understand a Public Records Division staff member contacted you and you indicated the District would provide Ms. Kates a supplemental response to explain the basis of the $48 .19, specifically, why it will require the District take more than two hours to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d )(iii). This should be explained with additional detail, as required under the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(viii)(include an itemized good faith estimate of any fees that may be charged to produce the records). Please note, since the District has not petitioned the Supervisor of Records to charge a fee for segregation and redaction, a fee may not be assessed for segregation or redaction unless it is required by law. G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv); see G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii); 950 CMR 32.06(4). Conclusion Accordingly, it is ordered that the District provide Ms. Kates with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within five business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. Itis preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at

Charles Eager . SPRl 7/1715 Page 3 December 22, 201 7 pre@sec.state.ma.us. Ms. Kates may appeal the substantive nature of the Department's response with ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.K 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Arny Kates