Charles Reid III, Esq. v. Chelmsford, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20180865)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords June 20, 2018 SPRlS/865 Tricia Dzuris Town Clerk 50 Billerica Road Chelmsford, MA O1 824 Dear Ms. Dzuris: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Chelsmford (Town) seeking to charge a fee of $25.00 for time spent searching and preparing documents. G. L. c. 66, § IO(d)(iii). On June 11, 2018, Charles Reid requested that various documentation be certified by the Town. Petitions for ability to assess fees 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. 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 (Supervisor) under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § IO(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The Supervisor may approve a petition from a municipality to charge for time spent segregating or redacting or to charge in excess of $25 per hour, if the Supervisor determines that 1) the request is for a commercial purpose or 2) the fee represents an actual and good faith representation by the municipality to comply with the request, the fee is necessary such that the request could not have been prudently completed without the redaction, segregation or fee in excess of $25 per hour, and the amount of the fee is reasonable and the fee is not designed to limit, deter or prevent access to requested public records. G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv). In rendering such a decision, the Supervisor is required to consider the following: a) 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

Tricia Dzuris SPR18/865 Page2 June 20, 2018 public interest served by limiting the cost of public access to the records; b) the financial ability of the requestor to pay the additional or increased fees; and c) any other relevant extenuating circumstances. Id. The Town's Petition In its June 13, 2018 petition the Town is requesting to "charge a fee for attested copies as per the fee schedule approved by the Chelmsford Board of Selectmen and for time spent searching and preparing documents for certification." The Town indicates "[t]he Building Inspector RAO spent a total of three (3) hours searching and preparing the documents for certification, two (2) of which are free of charge to the requestor." The Town has given an estimate to Mr. Reid based on "(l) hour of time of the lowest paid employee at $25.00, as well as ( 17) true attest copies at $5. 00 per page for a total of $110. 00." A member of the Public Records Division staff contacted the Town and clarified they the Town is requesting permission for time spent searching for the records. Given that the Town does not need to seek permission for time spent searching at a lowest hourly rate of $25.00, it is not necessary for the Supervisor under the Public Records Law to approve this estimated hourly rate. G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii). Conclusion For the reasons discussed above, I find it is unnecessary to opine on the Town's petition for permission to charge $25.00 per hour for the lowest paid employee to search for the requested records. G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii). Sincerely, fJ~~ fJnuu4zj- Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Charles Reid