Keith Eddings v. Methuen, City of - Police Department (SPR 20190691)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 17, 2019 SPR19/691 Captain Gregory Gallant Support Services Bureau Commander City of Methuen Police Department 90 Hampshire Street Methuen, MA O1 844 Dear Captain Gallant: I have received the petition of Keith Eddings of The Eagle-Tribune appealing the response of the City of Methuen-Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on March 21, 2019, Mr. Eddings requested: "copies of firearms certifications issued by Eagle Investigation Services [EIS] that the [Department] received with applications for gun permits since January 1, 2018." The Department provided Mr. Eddings with a March 27, 2019 fee estimate of $950.00 for 38 hours of time at $25.00 per hour. As a result of the estimate, Mr. Eddings petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and this appeal was opened. In his April 1, 2019 email petition, Mr. Eddings states, "I believe the work the [D]epartment says will be needed to respond to the request is excessive, as is the charge." Further, he states, "I believe it would only take only a few moments to look at any single certificate to determine if it was issued by EIS. I also believe it would require no more than a few hours to set aside the permits issued by EIS and then copy and redact them, although it's impossible to say for sure because it's not known at this point how many of the 800 were issued by EIS." Fee estimates If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 1 O(b )(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. 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 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

Captain Gregory Gallant SPR19/691 Page 2 April 17, 2019 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, § lO(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, § 10(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 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The Department's March 27, 2019 fee estimate; April 4, 2019 response to this office The Department's March 2ih estimate indicates: "We process approximately 800 firearm applications and renewals a year, estimated by our licensing unit officers; many are in storage; each application would need to be reviewed by hand, pertinent applications removed, copied, redacted. Reviewing one application per five (5) minutes, time needed to complete approximately 800 applications would be 40 hrs-2 non-charged hours= 38 hrs work. Total Estimated Response Cost: $950.00." After this appeal was opened, you emailed this office on April 4th explaining that, "[e Jach application is a packet, containing 3-page questionnaire, criminal history, application, copies of license, past fid/ltc permit, MIRCS, MSP AFIS results, MPD checksheet, etc. These packets typically [are] 20-30 pages each. Contrary to Mr. Eddings statement, it requires more than simply glancing at each packet to see if it was issued by [EIS], we would need to review each 20-30 page packet to locate the certificates he requires." It is my understanding that the Department does not currently track or record the different companies that provide safety certificates. It is also my understanding that you consulted with court personnel to gauge the amount of time it might take to review the packets to cull the certifications issued by EIS. It is unclear whether the Department's personnel in the Licensing Unit could gauge the amount of time per packet to search for each certificate by performing a review of a representative sample of packets.

Captain Gregory Gallant SPR19/691 Page 3 April 17, 2019 Further, the Department has indicated that it will redact the certificates, but it did not claim any exemptions in the Public Records Law to do so. Please be advised, 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 C.M.R. 32.06(4). Pursuant to the Public Records Law, the burden shall be upon the records custodian to establish the applicability of an exemption. G. L. c. 66, § 1 O(b )(iv); see also Globe Newspaper Co. v. Police Cornrn'r, 419 Mass. 852, 857 (1995); Flatley, 419 Mass. at 511. The Department did not identify what information it intends to redact from the certifications, and what exemption allows the Department to do so. G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3)(c)(4). This office encourages Mr. Eddings and the Department to communicate further to facilitate providing records efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c 66, § lO(a)(i). The Department must use its knowledge of the records to facilitate providing any records responsive to Mr. Eddings' request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(vii) (a municipality shall 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 to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Eddings with a response to the request, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (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 Supervisor of Records cc: Keith Eddings, The Eagle-Tribune