Grace Ferguson v. Suffolk County Sheriff's Department (SPR 20220741)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 7, 2022 SPR22/0741 Maria Romero, Esq. Assistant General Counsel Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department 200 Nashua Street Boston, MA 02114 Dear Attorney Romero: I have received the petition of Grace Romero appealing the response of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On March 18, 2022, Ms. Ferguson requested a “log of internal affairs complaints/investigations against sworn officers of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department as far back as January 1, 2010.” The Department provided a fee estimate on March 24, 2022. Unsatisfied with the Department’s response, Ms. Ferguson petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/0741, was opened as a result. Fee Estimates 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. 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 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

Maria Romero, Esq. SPR22/0741 Page 2 April 7, 2022 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). 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 under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The Department’s March 24th Fee Estimate On March 24, 2022, the Department stated, “the preliminary fee for this request is…$75.00, calculated [as follows]: 3 hours at $25 per hour, in addition to the initial 4 hours for a total of 7 hours. A fee has not been assessed on the first 4 hours of work required to comply with the request.” In light of the Department’s response, I find it unclear how it arrived at its fee estimate of $75.00. Specifically, it is unclear how many pages of responsive documents there are, what tasks are involved in producing the documents, whether the Department is charging for search time and segregation and redaction, and whether the Department is charging for segregation and redactions required by law. The Department must clarify these issues. Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Ms. Ferguson 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: Grace Ferguson