Susan T. Munford v. Plymouth County District Attorney's Office (SPR 20180812)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records June 20,20 18 SPR181812 Gail McKenna, Esq. Assistant District Attorney Plymouth District Attorney's Office 166 Main Street Brockton, MA 02301 Dear Attorney McKenna: I have received a petition from Susan Munford appealing the response of the Plymouth District Attorney's Office (DAO) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, 5 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Ms. Munford requested communication between the DAO and the Kingston Police Department regarding a termination and the sharing of those records. Ms. Munford also requested all documentation of the attorneys that received letters regarding the termination on October 13,201 7. This request is related to the subject of a previous appeal. See SPRl81343 Determination of the Supervisor (March 30,20 18).The DAO provided a fee estimate on May 18, 201 8 and Ms. Munford appealed. Fee estimates An agency 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, 5 lO(d). The fees must reflect Id. the actual cost of complying with a particular request. 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, 3 10(d)(i).3 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, 3 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 Id. more than $25 per hour. - 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

Gail McKenna, Esq. Page 2 June 20,20 18 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)(ii); 950 CMR 32.06(4). The DAO's May 1g tl' fee estimate indicates "[p]resumably we will be searching for about 10,000 case files to find letters. This will entail pulling and searching each file. I estimate that will take about ten minutes per case at a rate of $25.00 per hour." In her appeal petition Ms. Munford notes she is seeking cases files involving the Town of Kingston. In a June 6,2018 email you indicate that given this appeal, Ms. Munford "[nlow seeks a search of files from one town for a discrete period of time. Obviously this is a new and different request. If Ms. Munford likes we would be happy to provide her with a good faith [I estimate for her new request." I find that in light of Ms. Munford's appeal that addresses the scope of the request, the DAO must provide Ms. Munford a revised response addressing the clarified request. See G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(b)(vii) (an agency shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the agency to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). Conclusion Accordingly, the DAO is ordered to provide Ms. Munford a response 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: Susan Munford