Frank Wood v. Sudbury, Town of - Health Department (SPR 20231862)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records August 23, 2023 SPR23/1862 Beth Porter Public Records Access Officer Town of Sudbury 275 Old Lancaster Road Sudbury, MA 01776 Dear Ms. Porter: I have received the petition of Frank Wood appealing the response of the Town of Sudbury (Town) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On April 20, 2023, Mr. Wood requested “…all health inspections for commercial kitchens and restaurants between 11/1/2022 and present.” The Town provided a response on August 10, 2023, which included a fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the response, Mr. Wood petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR23/1862, was opened as a result. Fees -Municipalities 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. 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 how if such rate is 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

Beth Porter SPR23/1862 Page 2 August 23, 2023 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 August 10th fee estimate In its August 10, 2023 response, the Town provided a fee estimate of $132.00 for approximately 4 hours of locating the reports and scanning them. In support of its fee estimate, the Town stated the following: We apologize for the tardiness of this response. We have been extremely short staffed and have [been] trying to sort thr[ough] record requests. Unfortunately, because of the enormity of your request, between restaurants and [r]esidential kitchens, it would take approximately 4 hours to pull the reports and scan them. The fee for this would be $132.00. If you could forward a check for this, we will process the request. Current appeal In his appeal petition, Mr. Wood states that “[i]t is not appropriate to come up with an estimate beyond 10 days after receiving a request. And the fee for 4 hours of work should not exceed $25 per hour, based on prior appeal data. For those reasons we are asking the state to step in and request that the town provide the records in timely manner, without fee.”’ G. L. c. 66 § 10(e) G. L. c. 66, § 10(e) provides that “[a] records access officer shall not charge a fee for a public record unless the records access officer responded to the requestor within 10 business days under subsection (b).” Where Mr. Wood submitted a public records request on April 20, 2023, and the Town provided a response on August 10, 2023, I find it is unclear whether the Town complied with G. L. c. 66, § 10(e). Specifically, the Town must demonstrate whether it provided a response to Mr. Wood’s request under G. L. c. 66, § 10(b) within 10 business days of receipt of the request. The Town must clarify. Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Wood with a response to the request, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (10) business days. A copy of the Town’s 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. Mr. Wood may

Beth Porter SPR23/1862 Page 3 August 23, 2023 appeal the substantive nature of the Town’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Frank Wood