Thomas V. Ralph v. Webster, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20251711)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records June 20, 2025 SPR25/1711 Steven C. Johnson, Esq. K.P. Law 101 Arch Street, 12th Floor Boston, MA 02110 Dear Attorney Johnson: On June 13, 2025, this office received your petition on behalf of the Webster Police Department (Department) requesting a waiver of statutory limits to fees that may be assessed in responding to the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, it is my understanding that the Department furnished a copy of the petition to the requestor, Thomas Ralph. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(2). On April 7, 2025, Mr. Ralph requested “[i]nternal affairs reports and findings for [an identified individual] for an incident and/or finding on November 1, 2006 and all internal affairs investigations and findings for the Webster Police Department for the period of January 1, 2008 thru December 31, 2022.” Subsequently, on May 30, 2025, Mr. Ralph requested a list of specific internal affairs records. Petition to assess fees – Municipalities The 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 or to charge in excess of $25 an hour for the provision of public records. The first prong is whether the request for records was made for a commercial purpose. G. L. c. 66, § 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

Steven C. Johnson, Esq. SPR25/1711 Page 2 June 20, 2025 10(d)(iv). It is my understanding that this request was not made for a commercial purpose. 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 $25 per hour; 2) the amount of the fee is reasonable; and 3) the fee is not designed to limit, deter or prevent access to requested public records. Id. Petitions seeking a waiver of statutory limits to fees assessed to segregate and/or redact public records must be made within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(g). Fee Estimates – Municipalities A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.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 2 (two) 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). 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). Fee in Excess of $25.00 per Hour In its petition, the Department is seeking to charge a fee of $71.93 per hour, and provided the following information in support of its request: [T]he records sought here are internal affairs reports involving the conduct of current and former police officers, and as expected, such records are kept confidential. [T]he likelihood that internal affairs files contain such sensitive and confidential information is high, and access to them within the Department is limited to only

Steven C. Johnson, Esq. SPR25/1711 Page 3 June 20, 2025 the Chief and the Deputy. Therefore, the Deputy is the lowest paid employee with the ability to conduct the search for the requested records. [A]s the Department is relatively small in size, only two (2) members of the Department have access to such records: the Chief of Police (“Chief”) and the Deputy Chief of Police (“Deputy”). As such, given that the Deputy is the lowest paid employee with the ability to conduct the search for the requested records, the Department requests the ability to charge for the search at the Deputy’s hourly rate of $71.93. In an email to this Division on June 17, 2025, Mr. Ralph objects to the Department’s petition to assess fees, arguing “[a]t no time prior to June 13, 2025, did the Webster Police Department or Town Counsel fully comply with the Public Records Law. At all times during this public records request I have acted in good faith, cooperating with public officials to narrow the scope of my request and limit the burden on the Town. In fact, the Town has consistently opposed the request and now seeks to further obstruct the release of the relevant records through a fee petition that would nearly triple the maximum amount allowed by law.” The Department is advised that the current language of Exemption (c) prohibits its application to records related to law enforcement misconduct investigations. See G. L. c. 4, § (26)(c). Conclusion Given the public interest served by limiting the cost of public access to the requested records, I am unable to grant permission to charge in excess of $25 an hour. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Thomas Ralph Steven Cacciapouti