Malden Transparency v. Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School District (SPR 20212645)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records October 22, 2021 SPR21/2645 Kirsteen Patterson, MBA Director of Finance & Operations Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School District 390 Lincoln Rd. Sudbury, MA 01776 Dear Ms. Patterson: I have received the petition of OpenMalden.com appealing the response of the Lincoln- Sudbury Regional School District (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On September 26, 2021, OpenMalden.com requested the following: For the time period January 1, 2019 through the date [the School] respond[s] with the responsive documents . . . 1. All billing statements and/or invoices from [a named law firm]. 2. All documents evidencing payments made to [a named law firm]. Previous Petition This request was the subject of a petition from the School. See SPR21/2633 Supervisor of Records Determination (October 12, 2021). In my October 12th determination, I found that the School had established good cause for a time extension of 30 business days, that the School may assess a fee for segregation and redaction, and that the School may assess a fee limited to $75.00 per hour for attorney review. The School provided OpenMalden.com with a fee estimate on October 7, 2021. Objecting to the fees, OpenMalden.com appealed, and this case 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 agency or 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

Kirsteen Patterson, MBA SPR21/2645 Page 2 October 22, 2021 municipality 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); 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). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. Fee Estimate – Municipalities 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). The School’s October 7th Fee Estimate In its October 7, 2021 fee estimate, the School states that it “is in possession of Approximately 500 pages that are responsive to [the] request for invoices from MHTL [the School’s law firm, Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP].” The School goes on to explain that “[e]ach page of the records [OpenMalden.com] seek[s] must be reviewed to determine which exemption or privilege applies.” The School further explains the following:

Kirsteen Patterson, MBA SPR21/2645 Page 3 October 22, 2021 In this case, the Office of District Counsel is the lowest paid employee with the necessary skill to determine whether the attorney-client privilege requires certain portions of the records [OpenMalden.com] seek[s] to be redacted. While performing that review, Counsel can also determine whether other exemptions apply, rather than have a separate employee review the records at additional cost. . . . The [School] estimates that it will take District Counsel approximately 2 minutes per page to complete its review, segregation, and potential redaction of the records sought in [the] request. As a result, the [School] estimates a total of 20 hours. In accordance with 950 CMR 37.02(2)(m)(1) [OpenMalden.com] will not be charged for the first two (2) hours of those services. 18 hours multiplied by $75 per hour yields a fee estimate of $1,350. The actual fee to produce these records may vary based on the actual time spent to complete the necessary review and redaction process. As noted above, the School was previously approved to assess a fee for segregation and redaction, and to assess a fee limited to $75.00 per hour for attorney review. Based on the School’s fee estimate, it is unclear why the School requires a total of 20 hours if it takes 2 minutes per page to review 500 pages. If the School is charging for additional tasks, the School must provide further details regarding the tasks involved and what each task entails. For the reasons discussed above, I find the School must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee assessed is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). Conclusion Accordingly, the School is ordered to provide OpenMalden.com with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten 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: OpenMalden.com