Karin Sutter v. Natick, Town of (SPR 20210320)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records February 23, 2021 SPR21/0320 Kathleen Lentini Records Access Officer Town of Natick 13 East Central Street Natick, MA 01760 Dear Ms. Lentini: I have received the petition of Karin Sutter appealing the response of the Town of Natick (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on December 31, 2020, Ms. Sutter requested “… to inspect all emails with the name Sutter in them between 1/01/2013 and 01/01/2020.” On January 26, 2021, the Town provided a fee estimate totaling $8,650.00 which includes time for search, segregation and redaction of 346 hours (minus 2 free hours) at an hourly rate of $25.00. Due to this fee estimate on February 8, 2021, Ms. Sutter petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and this appeal was opened. In her February 8th petition, Ms. Sutter asserts, “[p]er the Public Records Law, the [Records Access Officer] should have responded no later than end of day on Tuesday, January 19, 2021. However, the [RAO] did not respond to this request until Tuesday, January 26, 2021 at 1:03 PM, when she provided the initial response to my request and accompanying fee estimate of $8,650 …” G. L. c. 66, § 10(e) G. L. c. 66, § 10(e) provides that “[a] records access officer shall not charge a fee for a public record unless the records access officer responded to the requestor within 10 business days under subsection (b). Based on the Town’s response, in conjunction with Ms. Sutter’s claim, it is unclear whether the Town complied with G. L. c. 66, § 10(e). Specifically, the Town must demonstrate whether it provided a response to Ms. Sutter’s request under G. L. c. 66, § 10(b) within 10 business days of receipt of 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

Kathleen Lentini SPR21/0320 Page 2 February 23, 2021 Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide a response to the request, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations, within 10 business days. A response must also 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. Ms. Sutter may appeal the substantive nature of the Town’s response within 90 calendar days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Karin Sutter