Collin Dias v. Fall River, City of - Office of the Corporation Counsel (SPR 20180949)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records July 10,201 8 SPRl81949 Joseph I. Macy, Esq. Corporation Counsel City of Fall River One Government Center Fall River, MA 02722 Dear Attorney Macy: I have received the petition of Collin Dias appealing the response of the City of Fall River (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, 5 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on May 26,2018 , Mr. Dias requested the following records: All non electronic records related to the Mayors recent city related trip to France. This includes, but is not limited to receipts and other records regarding expenditures relating to said trip. All non electronic records related to the Mayors city related trip to Florida. This includes, but is not limited to any receipts the Mayor spent at STORY MIAMI, which is a night club. All non electronic records mentioning, regarding, or relating to Collin Dias All video footage on cameras located in city hall that show Mayor Jasiel Correia I1 in them All non electronic records currently held in the Mayors Office starting from January 1s t, 20 16. The City responded on June 25,2018 and included a fee estimate for the production of records responsive to request 3. Fee estimates A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record exceptthose records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(d). The fees One Ashburton Place, Room 1719 , Boston, Massachusetts 02108 * (61 7) 727-2832. Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre * pre@sec.state.ma.us

Joseph I. Macy, Esq. Page 2 July 10,2018 Id. must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for black and white copies for both single and double- sided copies of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(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, fj lO(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, Id. redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 per hour. 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, 5 lO(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 petition under G. L. c. 66, tj lO(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, tj lO(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). In his appeal petition Mr. Dias indicates "I am appealing the response of the Fall River Corporation Counsel to my request for records. I made the request on MAY 26TH and I received a response almost a month later today on JUNE 25th. I hereby request a waiver of all fees associated with the request because of the city's late response." This appears to be the only issue raised in Mr. Dias's appeal. G. L. c. 66, lO(e) provides that "[a] records access officer shall not charge a fee for a public record unless the records access officer responded to the requestor within 10 business days under subsection (b)." Based upon a review of the file, it is unclear whether the City complied with G. L. c. 66, fj 10(e) by providing a response to this request within 10 business days under G. L. c. 66, lO(b). Therefore, I find the City may not assess a fee unless it demonstrates that it responded to the May 26t'1 request in compliance with G. L. c. 66, 10(e). Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide a response to Mr. Dias in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within 10 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 V Supervisor of Records cc: Collin Dias