Matthew Rocheleau v. Mount Wachusett Community College (SPR 20210960)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 22, 2021 SPR21/0960 Robert E. LaBonte Vice-President, Finance & Administration Records Access Officer Mt. Wachusett Community College 444 Green Street Gardner, MA 01440 Dear Mr. Rocheleau: I have received the petition of Matthew Rocheleau of the Boston Globe appealing the response of the Mt. Wachusett Community College (College). On March 1, 2021, Mr. Rocheleau requested, “… [a]ny/all disclosures of immediate family working in Massachusetts state government that were made by individuals who applied and were hired for employment as adjunct professors with the College between Jan. 1, 2015 and present.” On March 11, 2021, the College provided a response. Unsatisfied with the College’s response, Mr. Rocheleau appealed, and SPR21/0960 was opened as a result. 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, § 10A(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, § 10(b)(iv) (written response must “identify any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends to withhold, and provide the specific reasons for such withholding is based…”); 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). 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

Robert E. LaBonte SPR21/0960 Page 2 April 22, 2021 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 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). The College’s March 11th Fee Estimate In its March 11th response, the College provided a fee estimate of $1,037.50 as follows: Services Performed Hourly # of hours after Fee After initial 4 hours Electronic retrieval of data for periods 8/2016-12/2020 25 11.5 287.50 Manual retrieval and scan of Documents for period 1/2015 -8/2016 25 30 750.00 The College stated that the “[h]ourly rate of the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to complete the record request is $25 per hour [and] the hourly rate shall not exceed twenty-five … ($25) per hour and there is no charge for the first 4 hours of work.” The College's fee estimate has not explained with specificity why the indicated amount of time is necessary for producing the requested records. The College has not provided sufficient explanation to explain why 41.5 hours of search time is necessary to comply with the records request and is in conformity with G. L. c. 66, §10(d). The College must clarify how much time is needed to search, how much time is needed to segregate as required by law, and what tasks are necessary to provide the records. For the reasons discussed above, I find the College must revise its fee estimate consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d).

Robert E. LaBonte SPR21/0960 Page 3 April 22, 2021 Conclusion Accordingly, the College is ordered to provide Mr. Rocheleau with a revised fee estimate in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order within 10 business days. 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