Stanley Mazurczyk v. Chelmsford, Town of - Town Manager (SPR 20180772)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor o f Records June 12,2018 SPRl81772 Paul Cohen Department RAO Town Manager Department Town of Chelmsford 50 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, 5 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on March 12, 2018, 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. Previous appeal This request was the subject of a previous appeal. See SPRl81424 Determination of the oth Supervisor of Records (April 10,201 8 ). In my April 1 determination I ordered the Town to provide a response explaining how segregation and redaction are required by law, or provide a revised fee estimate in a manner consistent with the order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. The Town responded on April 19,201 8 by citing the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) Act in support of its fee estimate. Mr. Mazurczyk appealed and SPR181772 was opened as a result. The Town provided a supplemental response on June 4,20 18 and explains "[rlequest for email records are not previously redacted. Therefore, any respons[ive] documents in email format would need to be printed and redacted." Fee estimates If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2)(b) (a records access officer 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 June 12,2018 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, 5 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, 8 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, § lO(d)(iii). Fees shall not be assessed for the first 2 hours of work performed where the responding municipality has a population of over a. 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 petitionunder G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). Current appeal In my April lothd etermination I found it was unclear how segregation or redaction is required by law in this matter; for example, it was not clear what type of information is contained in the responsive records, and which statutes, if any, require segregation or redaction. Therefore, I found the Town had not met its burden to justify the $50 fee estimate. The Town has cited the CORI Act, G. L. c. 6, 5 167, as applicable, to justify its fee estimate. Please note that an updated definition of CORI is currently in effect. CORI, which is statutorily exempt from disclosure, is defined as: [Rlecords and data in any communicable form compiled by a Massachusetts criminal justice agency which concern an identifiable individual and relate to the nature or disposition of a criminal charge, an arrest, a pre-trial proceeding, other judicial proceedings, previous hearings conducted pursuant to section 58A of chapter 276 where the defendant was detained prior to trial or released with conditions under subsection (2) of section 58A of chapter 276, sentencing, incarceration, rehabilitation, or release. Such information shall be restricted to information recorded in criminal proceedings that are not dismissed before arraignment. Criminal offender record information shall not include evaluative information, statistical and analytical reports and files in which individuals are not directly or indirectly identifiable, or intelligence information . . . Criminal offender record information shall not include information concerning any offenses which are not punishable by incarceration

Paul Cohen Page 3 June 12,2018 Based on the Town's response it is unclear how portions of responsive records constitute CORI under the new definition. Therefore, the Town has not established how segregation or redaction of responsive records is required by law. To the best of my knowledge, the Town has not submitted a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(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 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(g). Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to 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 response to this office at pre@,sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Stanley Mazurczyk