Douglas Snook v. Lakeville Police Department (SPR 20211844)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records July 28, 2021 SPR21/1844 Kristen Campbell Records Access Officer Lakeville Police Department 323 Bedford Street Lakeville, MA 02347 Dear Ms. Campbell: On July 26, 2021, this office received your petition on behalf of the Lakeville Police Department (Department) seeking to assess fees in responding to a request made by Attorney Douglas Snook of the Law Offices of Douglas K. Snook. G. L. c. 66, § 10 (d)(iv). As required by law, the Department furnished a copy of their petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). On July 26, 2021, Attorney Snook requested “…copies of all police reports and/or motor vehicle accident reports concerning any motor vehicle accidents which occurred in your jurisdiction from June 17, 2021 to July 17, 2021.” Petitions 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, § 10(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, § 10(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, § 10(d)(iv). 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) 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

Kristen Campbell SPR21/1844 Page 2 July 28, 2021 if the fee is necessary such that the request could not have been prudently 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 waiver 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). Fee Estimates 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 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). 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, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4) 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)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). Petitions relating to fees must be submitted to the Supervisor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(g). Current Petition In its July 26th petition, the Department states, “we are requesting permission to charge the following fees associated with the search and segregation of the requested records.” The Department notes “…the requested records include the following one month’s worth of motor vehicle accident reports. The lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill to complete the search and segregation of these records is Kristen Campbell, Administrative Assistant. This is due to the fact that she is the only one trained in public records and has been certified. The

Kristen Campbell SPR21/1844 Page 3 July 28, 2021 Administrative Assistant’s normal hourly rate is $27.36.” The Department posits that “…the request is for a commercial purpose and/or the fee represents an actual and good faith representation to comply with the request, the fee is necessary, the amount of the fee is reasonable and the fee is not designed to limit, deter or prevent access to requested public records.” The Department explains “[t]his is based upon the following: the request is made for an all-inclusive time period of one month’s worth of motor vehicle accidents. Based on our experience with other records requests of this type, it does appear to be for commercial purposes to either seek out new clients or establish a list of potential clients for the law firm.” The term “commercial purpose” as used in this section shall mean: the sale or resale of any portion of the public record or the use of information from the public record to advance the requester’s strategic business interests in a manner that the requester can reasonably expect to make a profit, and shall not include gathering or reporting news or gathering information to promote citizen oversight or further the understanding of the operation or activities of government or for academic, scientific, journalistic or public research or education. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(ix). Based on the Department’s petition and the correspondence provided, it is my understanding that the requests made by Attorney Snook meet the statutory definition of “commercial purpose” within the Public Records Law. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(ix); see also ----- SPR18/1318 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (September 5, 2018). Conclusion Based on the Department’s petition and my finding that the requests are for a commercial purpose, I approve the Department’s petition to charge $27.36 an hour to produce the responsive documents. Please note, the requestor has the right to seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the appropriate superior court. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A(c).

Kristen Campbell SPR21/1844 Page 4 July 28, 2021 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Douglas Snook, Esq.