Matthew Rocheleau v. Hampshire County Sheriff's Department (SPR 20210697)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 5, 2021 SPR21/0697 Thomas Mitchell Public Information Officer Hampshire Sheriff’s Office 205 Rocky Hill Road Northampton, MA 01061 . Dear Mr. Mitchell: I have received the petition of Matthew Rocheleau of the Boston Globe appealing the response of the Hampshire Sheriff’s Office (Office) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On January 11, 2021, Mr. Rocheleau requested “[a]ny/all disclosures of immediate family working in Massachusetts state government that were made by individuals who applied for employment with the Hampshire Sheriff’s Department between Jan. 1, 2015 and present.” The Office provided a response on January 25, 2021, which included a fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the Office’s response, Mr. Rocheleau petitioned this office and SPR21/0697 was opened as a result. Fee estimate - Agencies An agency 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). Agencies may not assess a fee for the first four (4) hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(ii). Where appropriate, agencies 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. 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, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(ii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). 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

Thomas Mitchell SPR21/0697 Page 2 April 5, 2021 The Office’s January 25th response In its January 25th response, the Office states “[f]or the 151 applicants (62 active, 89 inactive) who were hired by the Hampshire Sheriff's Office during the relevant time period… [t]he preliminary fee for this request is the sum of $1,875.00, calculated by the time estimate for the lowest paid person that is qualified to comply with the request: 75 hours at $25 per hour, in addition to the initial 4 hours for a total of 79 hours.” The Office indicates “[a] fee has not been assessed on the first 4 hours of work required to comply with the request. If the final fee varies from the estimate at the conclusion of the request, you will be entitled to a refund; or, if it is less than the estimate, you may be assessed an additional amount if it exceeds the estimate.” In his appeal, Mr. Rocheleau states “[t]he office's estimate of 79 hours (or 4,740 minutes) to review the 151 records that are potentially responsive to the request means the office believes it will take more than a half an hour to find and produce each document.” Mr. Rocheleau contends “[e]ach of the 151 potentially responsive records is just a single page, most of the 151 records will be blank so they will not actually need to be copied or provided to the Globe, and none of the documents require redaction.” The Office’s fee estimate has not explained with specificity why the indicated amount of time is necessary to produce the requested records. Specifically, it is unclear why it will take the Office 79 hours to produce the responsive records. The Office must also explain the task(s) necessary to produce the responsive records, as well as the time being allotted to each task. The Office must clarify these matters. Order Accordingly, the Office is ordered to provide Mr. Rocheleau with a revised 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: Matthew Rocheleau