Jessica Foster v. Melrose, City of - Police Department (SPR 20191838)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray S11pervisor of Records September 16, 2019 SPR19/1838 Kim Upton Executive Assistant Melrose Police Department City of Melrose 56 West Foster Street Melrose, MA 02176 I have received your petition on behalf of the City of Melrose (Town) seeking "a time extension and an assessment of search and segregation fees for the perpetual records requests we receive from parents and guardians conducting a child exchange." Petitions for an extension of time Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 30 business days. In determining whether there has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) efforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series ofrequests from the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). 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

Kim Upton SPR19/1838 Page 2 September 16, 2019 Petition to Assess Fees 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 (Supervisor) under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10 (d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). 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, § lO(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. The first prong is whether the request for records was made for a commercial purpose. G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv). It is my determination that this request was not made for a commercial purpose. 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. The Supervisor must consider 1) if the fee is necessary such that the request could not have been prndently completed without the redaction or segregation; 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. Petitions seeking a waivei· of statutory limits to fees assessed to segregate and/or redact public records must be made within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(g). Current petition The City is requesting "the Melrose Police Department be allowed to assess a search and segregation fee for the time needed of our authorized Police Officers to search, redact and reproduce the video surveillance record requested by the child exchange parents/guardians, as well as the cost of the CD's we need to fulfill the request." · Given that the City is seeking authorization outside the scope of statutory authority given to the Supervisor under the Public Records Law, consequently, I am unable to grant the City's petition. Conclusion For the reasons discussed above, I do not have the statutory authority to grant the City's petition for a time extension and assessment of fees for search and segregation for all future requests pertaining to child exchange. However, the City may petition the Supervisor for extensions of time or assessment of fees to respond to pending requests for public records that

Kim Upton SPR19/1838 Page 3 Septernber 16, 2019 meet the statutory requirements. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c); G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv). The City is advised it must furnish a copy of any future petition to the requestor, as required by law. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Jessica Foster