Gloria Hollstein v. Scituate, Town of - Town Administrator (SPR 20181109)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records August 9,201 8 SPRl811109 Assistant to the Town Administrator Town of Scituate 600 Chief Justice Cushing Highway Scituate, MA 02066 Dear Ms. Seghezzi: I have received the petition of Gloria Hollstein appealing the response of the Town of Scituate (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, 5 l0A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Hollstein requested depositions, settlement agreements, and internal affairs investigation documents from the Town on June 29,2018 . The Town provided Ms. Hollstein with a response on July 12,2018 . Ms. Hollstein appealed the Town's response to this office on July 26,2018 . Fee estimates If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, 9 lO(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2)(b) (a records access officer must provide the responsive records. A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except . se records that are freely avahble for pubhc a, nspection. G. L. c. 66, 5 10(d). The fees must a -refl-ect t l G Z Z ~ ~ ~ i parti~cul-~. i t h A m a x i ~ e ~ f f icvenets copies of a public record. G. L. c. 66, 8 1O jdj jij. 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, 9 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, a. redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 per hour. - One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 0210 8 (61 7) 727-2832. Fax: (61 7) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre * pre@sec.state.ma.us

Ms. Michele Seghezzi - Page 2 August 9,201 8 However, municipalities may charge more than $25 per hour if such rate is approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(d)(iv). A fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petitionunder G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). A records access officer (RAO) may not charge a fee unless the RAO provides a written response in 10 business days following the receipt of the request in compliance with G. L. c. 66, 5 10(b). G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(e). An RAO may suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the agency or municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(vii). Appeal It is not clear what documents will be produced to Ms. Hollstein and if the documents pertain to her public records request. The Town's fee estimate must provide clarity on how many pages will be produced, the reasons for redaction of documents, if any, and any other associated fees. See G. L. c. 66, 5 10(d)(i) (a maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for black and white copies for both single and double-sided copies of a public record). Also, the Town may not be permitted to charge fees associated with the records request and revised fee estimate if the Town did not provide a response to this request in compliance with this provision of the law. See G. L. c. 66, 5 10(e); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2)(c). It is unclear whether the Town complied with G. L. c. 66, 5 10(e) and 950 C.M.R 32.06(2)(c). Therefore, I find the Town must demonstrate whether it responded to the records request and provided a revised fee estimate within ten business days following receipt of the request in compliance with G. L. c. 66, fj 10(e) and 950 C.M.R 32.06(2)(c). Order Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Ms. Hollstein with a fee estimate in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Reg-u lations within 10 h~lsinessdaysA cqyn f any to tlkdike. Its is pefkdik to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@,sec.state.ma.us. v Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Gloria Hollstein