Brian Petrini-Smith v. Framingham, City of - Police Department (SPR 20250197)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records January 27, 2025 SPR25/0197 Paul J. Iversen Records Access Officer City of Framingham 150 Concord Street Framingham, MA 01702 Dear Mr. Iversen: I have received the petition of Brian Petrini-Smith appealing the response of the City of Framingham (City) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On January 8, 2025, Mr. Petrini-Smith requested body camera footage and police reports related to a January 7, 2025 incident which occurred at an identified address. The City provided a response on January 22, 2025. Unsatisfied with the response, Mr. Petrini-Smith petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/0197, 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

Paul J. Iversen SPR25/0197 Page 2 January 27, 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 City’s January 22nd Response In its January 22, 2025 response, the City stated: The City of Framingham is in receipt of your public records request, you made January 8th 2025. The City intends to provide these records to you, the request is asking for Body Worn Camera Footage as well as the police report. However responding to this request places an undue burden on the responsibilities of the City. Additionally, the City will need to spend considerable time as required by law in producing these records. The City estimates that it will take approximately 3.5 hours to fill this request. As a result, the City in accordance with the law, the City will not charge you for the first two hours of employee time, at the rate of $42/hour (the hourly wage of the lowest paid employee capable of performing such work) … The City will not complete its response to this request until we have received payment from you of the fee of $63.00. Although the City has estimated that the process of compiling, reviewing, and preparing responsive documents for production will take 3.5 hours of employee time, the City has not provided sufficient explanation of why 3.5 hours of employee time is necessary. The City must advise how many hours it requires to search and how many hours it requires to segregate and redact the records in order to comply with the records request. Additionally, I find the City must provide information about whether the responsive records contain information that is required by law to be segregated or redacted, as well as the applicable statutes, if any. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). Further, the City is advised that under the Public Records Law, 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 skill necessary to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 per hour. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii). Municipalities may charge more than $25 per hour only if such rate is approved by the Supervisor under a petition pursuant to G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). Consequently, where the City has not submitted a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv), seeking permission to charge in excess of $25 per hour, I find the City may not assess an hourly rate greater than $25 per hour.

Paul J. Iversen SPR25/0197 Page 3 January 27, 2025 For the reasons discussed above, I find the City must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee of $63.00 assessed in its January 22nd estimate is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). This office encourages Mr. Petrini-Smith and the City to communicate further in order 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 the records sought more efficiently and affordably). Any revision to the request would result in the requirement to issue a revised fee estimate. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Petrini-Smith 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. Mr. Petrini-Smith may appeal the substantive nature of the City’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Brian Petrini-Smith Colleen Kehew