FwcInvestigations X v. Stoughton, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20251495)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records June 10, 2025 SPR25/1495 Lieutenant Timothy Hansler Records Access Officer Stoughton Police Department 26 Rose Street Stoughton, MA 02072 Dear Lieutenant Hansler: I have received the petition of FWC Investigations (“requestor”) appealing the response of the Stoughton 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 May 21, 2025, the requestor sought, “the public portion of the arrest logs maintained by the Stoughton Police Department from April 1, 2023 (04/01/2023) through May 21, 2025 (05/21/2025). Specifically, I am requesting the following information for each arrest during this time period: Name of arrestee, Date and time of arrest, General location of arrest (block-level or street), Charges filed, Arresting officer(s), if not exempt (Officer Identifier Number is acceptable), Incident or case number[.]” On May 23, 2025, the Department responded, providing a fee estimate. On the same day, the requestor narrowed their request dates to between May 23, 2024 and May 23, 2025. Then, on May 28, 2025, the Department provided an updated fee estimate of $475.00. Unsatisfied with the Department’s responses, the requestor petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/1495, was opened as a result. Fees Estimates - Municipalities If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.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). 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

Lieutenant Timothy Hansler SPR25/1495 Page 2 June 10, 2025 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 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 Department’s May 23rd and May 28th responses In its May 23, 2025 response, the Department provided a fee estimate of $950.00 and stated the following: The Stoughton Department is required to devote more than 2 hours of time to search for, compile, segregate, redact and/or reproduce the requested records; and the segregation or redaction of records is required by law or the fee has been approved by the Supervisor of Public Records. The lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill to complete the search and segregation is Administrative Assistant whose hourly rate is $31/hour. The search and segregation costs have been calculated using the hourly rate of $25, which is the maximum dollar amount allowed by the supervisor of records. In order to comply with your request, it will take approximately 40 hours of search and segregation time, based upon the following: The search, compile redact and review almost 40,000 log entries. The total number of hours charged will be [FOR MUNICIPALITIES WITH OVER 20,000 PEOPLE, 40 MINUS 2 HOURS for a total; of 38 hours. 38X25=$950.00 In its May 28, 2025 response, the Department adjusted its fee following the requestor’s modification to $475.00. In that response, the Department states: Due to the reduction[,] the fee will be reduced from (38X25.00=$950.00) to a total amount of 19 hours multiplied by $25.00 for a total of $475.00 to process your request. Although the Department appears to be assessing fees for a total of 19 hours to produce responsive records, it is unclear why the Department requires this much time to search, segregate and redact the responsive records. Although the Department states there are “almost 40,000 log entries,” it is unclear what each log entry consists of, and why the Department requires the amount of time described in its fee estimate to review each entry. The Department must provide

Lieutenant Timothy Hansler SPR25/1495 Page 3 June 10, 2025 further details regarding the tasks involved and what each task entails, including the time it is allocating to compiling, segregating, redacting and reproducing the requested records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). Further, based on the Department’s response, I find the Department must clarify whether the redactions included in its fee estimate are required by law, and state the applicable statutes, if any. The Department is advised that, pursuant to the Public Records Law, a fee may 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)(ii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The Department must clarify this. I encourage the requestor and the Department to communicate further in order to facilitate producing records efficiently and affordably. The requestor may wish to further narrow the parameters or include factors to enable the search to be processed. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)(i). The Department must use its knowledge of the records to facilitate providing any responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)(vii) (an agency or 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 agency or municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide the requestor with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within 10 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. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: FWC Investigations