Stanley Mazurczyk v. Chelmsford, Town of - Town Manager (SPR 20180424)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 10,201 8 SPRl81424 Paul Cohen Town Manager Town of Chelmsford 60 Billerica Road Chelmsford, MA 0 1824 Dear Mr. Cohen: I have received the petition of Stanley Mazurczyk appealing the response of the Town of Chelmsford (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, 9 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on March 12, 201 8, Mr. Mazurczyk requested "copies of 'written forms' you received since September 5,2014" described as "[a]llegations of Police misconduct, civilian complaint, and reports filed against Chelmsford Police officers are received in written form." On March 23,201 8, the Town provided Mr. Mazurczyk with a fee estimate of $50.00 for his public records request. Mr. Mazurczyk appeals the Town's fee estimate on the basis that they ''justifly] the estimated cost presented." Fee estimates If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2)(b) (a records access officer shall provide written, itemized, good faith estimate). Once fees are paid, a records access officer must provide the responsive records. If a municipality is required to devote more than 2 hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a record requested the fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. G. L. c. 66, 9 lO(d)(iii). A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(d)(i). 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. G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(d)(iii). Fees shall not be assessed for the 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

Paul Cohen Page 2 April 10,2018 first 2 hours of work performed where the responding municipality has a population of over 20,000 people. @. 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, 5 10(d)(iv). G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). April tithS upplemental Response Subsequent to a member of the Public Records Division staff contacting the Town, the Town provided a supplemental response explaining the basis of their $50.00 fee estimate. The Town explains based on an estimate of their Information Technology Director, it "will take at least three hours" to search for the responsive records on the email system. The Town further explains it will "require the searching for and examination of a few hundred emails, which could contain several hundred pages of material. These documents would need to be examined to determine which ones are responsive. Also personal information in the complaints would need to be redacted." The Town further explains "clerical staff located in the Police State and in the Town Manager's Office would need to search for, examine, and duplicate responsive written records by examining files that are located in their offices and archived storage areas." The Town estimates "this task along with the email examination of records described above, would total at least four hours." Under the updated Public Records Law effective January 1,201 7, a fee may 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, 5 lO(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, 5 10(d)(iii). It is unclear how segregation or redaction is required by law in this matter; for example, it is not clear what type of information is contained in the responsive records, and which statutes, if any, require segregation or redaction. Therefore, the Town has not met its burden to justify the fee estimate in its April 6thr esponse. To the best of my knowledge, the Town has not submitted a petition under G. L. c. 66, 5 1O (d)(iv). Please also note that petitions seeking permission to assess fees must be made within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records; therefore, the Town may not currently seek permission to assess fees through a petition under G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(d)(iv). See 950 CMR 32.06(4)(g). Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide a response explaining how segregation and redaction are required by law, or provide a revised fee estimate 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

Paul Cohen Page 3 April 10,2018 response to this office at pre@,sec.state.ma.us. Mr. Mazurczyk may appeal the substantive nature of the revised response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Stanley Mazurczyk