Shawn Harmon v. Milford, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20180973)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records July 12,2018 SPR181973 Dawn M. Naff Town Clerk Town of Milford 52 Main Street Milford, MA 0 1757 Dear Dawn Naff I have received the petition of Shawn Harmon appealing the response of the Town of Milford (Town) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66, 3 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Harmon requested records concerning the Town's "entire census resident database." Unsatisfied with Town's response, Mr. Harmon petitioned this office and as a result SPR181973 was opened. The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, 5 10A(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, 3 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, 3 10(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 51 1 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. Fee estimates A municipality 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, 3 10(d). The fees must Id. reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. A maximum fee of five cents - 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

Dawn M. Naff Page 2 July 12,2018 ($.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 10(d)(i). Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first (two) 2 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, 5 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 sltill required to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 Id. 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, fj 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, 5 lO(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(d)(iii); 950 CMR 32.06(4). Town's June 25t'' Response In its response dated June 25,2018 the Town writes, "I've attached the file that you requested in both 'txt' and excel form. We do charge a $25.00 file fee. Please let me know if you have any questions or problems." Conclusion It is unclear why the Town is charging a $25.00 file fee to complete this request. For example, the Town has not explained how many responsive records it possesses nor has it expressed the time spent to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested. Please be advised, municipalities must include an itemized, good faith estimate of any fees that may be charged to produce records. G. L. c. 66, 5 1O (d)(iii). Accordingly, the Town is hereby ordered to provide Mr. Harmon with a response to the request, provided 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 V Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Shawn Harmon