Casey G. Fleming v. Oxford, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20213344)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 6, 2022 SPR21/3444 Michelle A. Jenkins Town Clerk Town of Oxford 325 Main Street Oxford, MA 01540 Dear Ms. Jenkins: I have received the petition of Casey G. Fleming appealing the response of the Town of Oxford (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On November 19, 2021, the requestor sought “any records requests which were responded to by providing any town orders related to 59 Quobaug avenue, or the MGL 258 notice of claims related to 59 Quobaug avenue.” Previous appeal This request was the subject of previous appeal. See SPR21/3242 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (December 21, 2021). Subsequently, the requestor objected to the Town’s December 7, 2021 fee estimate. The requestor petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR21/3344, was opened as a result. 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, 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

Michelle A. Jenkins SPR21/3344 Page 2 January 6, 2022 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 Town’s December 7th fee estimate In its December 7, 2021 fee estimate, the Town stated “that it will cost a minimum of $63.67” to comply with the request. That amount is broken down as follows: Employee Title of *Hourly Rate Estimated Estimated Total Time Personnel Employee Cost of Estimated Cost Copies Cost 2 hours Assistant $24.86/hr. $49.72 $13.95 $63.67 Town Clerk Based on the Town’s December 7th response, it is unclear why the Town requires the amount of time listed above to produce the requested records. The Town must provide further information on the details regarding the tasks involved, including the time it is allocating to compiling, segregating, redacting and reproducing the requested records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). The Town must clarify this. The requestor mentioned having the records sent electronically. Based on the Town’s December 7th response, it is unclear why producing the records electronically is not feasible. Please be advised that pursuant to the Public Records Law, “[t]he records access officer shall, to the extent feasible, provide the public record in the requestor’s preferred format or, in the absence of a preferred format, in a searchable, machine readable format.” See G. L. c. 66, § 6A(d). The Town must clarify this issue. This office continues to encourage the requestor and the Town to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, §10(b)(vii) (a municipality shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide the requestor with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations

Michelle A. Jenkins SPR21/3344 Page 3 January 6, 2022 within 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: Casey G. Fleming