Enide Florestal v. Randolph, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20250152)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records January 17, 2025 SPR25/0152 Christine R. Morse Lieutenant Randolph Police Department 41 South Main Street Randolph, MA 02368 Dear Lieutenant Morse: I have received the petition of Enide Florestal, on behalf of Judy Heller, Esq., appealing the response of the Randolph Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On December 4, 2024, Attorney Heller requested body camera footage relating to a specific incident. The Department provided a response on December 30, 2024. Unsatisfied with the response, Ms. Florestal petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/0152, was opened as a result. Fee Estimates – 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). 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

Christine R. Morse SPR25/0152 Page 2 January 17, 2025 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 Department’s December 30th Response In its December 30, 2024 response, the Department identified approximately one and a half hours of video footage responsive to the request. The Department informed Attorney Heller that it planned to redact the responsive records pursuant to Exemption (c) of the Public Records Law and assessed a fee of $725.00 to provide the responsive records, stating: The lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill to complete the search and segregation is [an identified employee], whose hourly rate is $65.27. This individual is the lowest paid employee capable of completing the search and redaction because she is trained on the redaction of the BWC and ICV media. The search and segregation costs have been calculated using the hourly rate of $25 … It will take approximately 31 hours to redact the videos … The total number of hours charged will be 31 hours (minus 2 hours for municipalities over 20,000 people). 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 Attorney Heller submitted a public records request on December 4, 2024, and the Department provided a response on December 30, 2024, I find the Department has not demonstrated that it responded to the request within 10 business days. As such, the Department may not assess a fee for responding to this request. Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Ms. Florestal 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 the response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Ms. Florestal may appeal the substantive nature of the Department’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

Christine R. Morse SPR25/0152 Page 3 January 17, 2025 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Enide Florestal