Eric Brown v. Watertown, City of - Police Department (SPR 20181493)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records October 16, 2018 SPRlS/1493 Catalina Gonzales Watertown Police Department 552 Main St Watertown MA, 024 72 Dear Catalina Gonzales: I have received your petition on behalf of the Watertown Police Department (Department) seeking to charge $25 in responding to a request made by Attorney Eric R. Brown of the Law Offices ofE ric R. Brown. G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv). As required by law, a municipality must furnish a copy of their petition to the requestor. Id. Attorney Brown requested "[a]ll Motor Vehicle Accident reports for Watertown, Massachusetts from September 10, 2018 through September 16, 2018." Petitions to assess fees The Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may approve a petitionfrom 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. G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv). In rendering such a decision, the Supervisor is required to consider the following: a) the 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. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d )(iv). The statute sets out a two-prong test for determining whether the Supervisor may approve a municipality's petition to allow the municipality to charge for time spent segregating or redacting records or to charge in excess of $25 an hour for the provision of public records. The first prong is whether the request for records was made for a commercial purpose. G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv). The second prong of the test is whether the fee represents an actual and good faith representation by the municipality to comply with the request. 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

Catalina Gonzales SPR18/1493 Page 2 October 16, 2018 The Supervisor must consider 1) if the fee is necessary such that the request could not have been prudently completed without the redaction or segregation or fee in excess of $25 per hour; 2) the amount of the fee is reasonable; and 3) the fee is not designed to limit, deter or prevent access to requested public records. Id. Current Petition Based on the Department's September 26, 2018 petition, it is my understanding the Law Offices ofE ric R. Brown confirmed the request was made for a commercial purpose. Consequently, this purpose meets the statutory definition of "commercial purpose" within the Public Records Law. See G. L. c. 66, § 10( d)(ix); see also SPRl 8/1318 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (September 5, 2018). Based on the Department's petition and my finding that the requests are for a commercial purpose, I approve the Department's petition to charge $25 an hour to produce the responsive documents. Please be advised, 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. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d )(iii). Please note, the requestor has the right to seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the appropriate superior court. See G. L. c. 66, § 1O A( c ). Sincerely, ~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Eric R. Brown, Esq.