Gerard F. Mackin, Jr. v. Weymouth, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20221946)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records August 29, 2022 SPR22/1946 Kathleen A. Deree Town Clerk/Records Access Officer Town of Weymouth 75 Middle Street Weymouth, MA 02189 Dear Ms. Deree: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Weymouth (Town) seeking a waiver of statutory limits on fees that may be assessed in responding to a request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). As required by law, the Town furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). I note that in an email to this office and the Town on August 23, 2022, Gerard Mackin expressed his objections to this and another petition submitted by the Town. Petition to Assess Fees – Municipalities The Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may approve a petition from a municipality to charge for time spent segregating or redacting or to charge in excess of $25 per hour, if the Supervisor determines that 1) the request is for a commercial purpose or 2) the fee represents an actual and good faith representation by the municipality to comply with the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). 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). 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

Kathleen A. Deree SPR22/1946 Page 2 August 29, 2022 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) if the fee is necessary such that the request could not have been prudently completed without the redaction or segregation or fee in excess of $25 per hour; 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. Conclusion The Town submitted its petition to this office on August 23, 2022. The Town’s August 23rd petition does not indicate the specific requests for which the Town seeks to charge fees, nor the dates those requests were received by the Town. The Town is advised that, under the Public Records Regulations, “petitions seeking a waiver of statutory limits to fees assessed to segregate and/or redact public records must be made within ten business days following receipt of a request for public records.” 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(g). In light of the fact that the Town has not demonstrated it submitted a timely petition, a waiver of statutory limits on fees cannot be granted. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(g). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Gerard Mackin