Laura Crimaldi v. Springfield, City of - Office of the City Clerk (SPR 20181676)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records November 28, 2018 SPR18/1676 Anthony I. Wilson, Esq. City of Springfield - Office of the City Clerk 36 Court Street Springfield, MA O1 103 Dear Attorney Wilson: I have received the petition of Laura Crimaldi of the Boston Globe appealing the response of the City of Springfield (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Crimaldi requested "the IIU histories for all current Springfield police officers." The City responded to her request by providing a fee estimate. 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, § lOA(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, § 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, § lO(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (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. If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. Fee estimate The City estimates a total number of 1190 pages of responsive records based on 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

Anthony I. Wilson, Esq. SPR18/1676 Page2 November 28, 2018 approximately three pages of records for each of the City's 397 police officers. The City's fee estimate includes $.05 per page, thirteen hours to search for and segregate the responsive records and thirty-seven hours to review and redact the records pursuant to the Public Records Law citing G. L. c. 66, § 10. The City confirms it has used the hourly rate of the lowest paid employee capable of performing the tasks; $18 an hour to search for and segregate the records and $25 an hour to review and redact the records. The City additionally confirms it has not charged a fee for the first two hours of work completed. The City indicates it is charging a total fee of $1,182. A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10( d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § 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, § 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. 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, § 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, § lO(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii); 950 CMR 32.06(4). The City's fee estimate, while very detailed, lacks identification of a law requiring segregation or redaction, and to the best of my knowledge this office has not received a petition seeking approval to charge for segregation and redaction from the City. Consequently, the City is not permitted to charge for segregation and redaction. Whereas the City has assessed thirteen hours of work for searching and segregating to'gether, it is unclear how much time the City requires to search for the records. Additionally, it is unclear why the City does not plan to provide electronic copies of the records to Ms. Crimaldi free of charge. See 950 C.M.R. 32.07(1)(c) ("the records access officer shall presume that a requester prefers copies provided in machine-readable electronic form, when electronic form is available, unless the requester specifies an alternative preference."). Order Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Ms. Crimaldi 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.

Anthony I. Wilson, Esq. SPR18/1676 Page 3 November 28, 2018 Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Laura Crimaldi