Collin Dias v. Fall River, City of - Police Department (SPR 20252339)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records August 18, 2025 SPR25/2339 Ashley Ferreira Records Clerk Fall River Police Department 685 Pleasant Street Fall River, MA 02721 Dear Ms. Ferreira: I have received the petition of Collin Dias appealing the response of the Fall River 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 July 21, 2025, Mr. Dias requested, “[a]ny police report that mentions the following key words: . . . from January 1st, 2020, until July 19th, 2025.” The Department initially responded on July 21, 2025. Previous Appeal This request was the subject of a previous appeal. See SPR25/2144 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (July 31, 2025). In my July 31st determination, I ordered the Department to clarify whether it possesses responsive records and encouraged the parties to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. The Department responded on August 6, 2025 and August 11, 2025, providing a fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the Department’s responses, Mr. Dias petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/2339, 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 2 (two) hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested unless the 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

Ashley Ferreira SPR25/2339 Page 2 August 18, 2025 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). The Department’s August 6th and August 11th Responses In its August 6, 2025 response, the Department stated, “[a]fter further research it has been found that a key word search can be done. Please clarify the search… Once you have clarified your request, work will begin on your request.” In its August 11, 2025 response, after Mr. Dias provided the requested clarification, the Department assessed a fee of $276.30 to provide the responsive records. In support of the fee estimate, the Department stated as follows: The 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 [an identified individual] whose hourly rate is $18.42 hr. This individual is the lowest paid employee capable of completing the search and redaction in relation to your request… The search and segregation costs have been calculated using the hourly rate of $18.42 hr. In order to comply with your request, it will take approximately 15 hours of search and segregation time, based upon the following: • Initial Review of Request • Data Extraction (10- 15 hrs) • Detailed Redaction/Preparation to comply with State Law (4-6 hrs) • Quality Assurance and Final Review The total number of hours charged will be 15 hrs (at a rate of $18.42) with a total amount of $276.30 for the search and segregation charges associated with this request.

Ashley Ferreira SPR25/2339 Page 3 August 18, 2025 Current Appeal In his appeal petition, Mr. Dias stated: [1] I assert that the Police Department cannot assess a fee for this request as they did not assess said fee within 10 business days of the request. [2] Even if the Police Department can still assess a fee… the fee itself is unreasonable. It does not include a waiver for the first two hours of work, the Police Department is attempting to charge me for redactions and preparations which is unlawful, the police department wants to charge me for “quality assurance” I also believe the 10-15 hours of records search is an absurd amount of time and I believe is dishonest and not a reasonable estimate. Fee Waivers G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(v) provides the following with respect to waiving a fee for the production of responsive records: the records access officer may waive or reduce the amount of any fee charged under this subsection upon a showing that disclosure of a requested record is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requestor, or upon a showing that the requestor lacks the financial ability to pay the full amount of the reasonable fee. Please be advised, although the Supervisor may encourage fees to be waived, the Supervisor may not mandate that a records access officer waive fees assessed for complying with a public records request; rather, as described above, the records access officer may waive or reduce the amount of any fee upon a showing of various factors. See G. L. c. 66, § 10 (d)(v); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2)(k). 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 [G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)].” Where Mr. Dias submitted his request on July 21, 2025 and the Department provided its initial response on the same day, I find the Department complied with G. L. c. 66, § 10(e) by providing a timely response to Mr. Dias’ request. Accordingly, I find this portion of Mr. Dias’ appeal is resolved. Where the Department provided a response within 10 business days, however, it is necessary to review the reasonableness of the Department’s fee estimate.

Ashley Ferreira SPR25/2339 Page 4 August 18, 2025 Reasonableness of the Fee Estimate Although the Department states that it would take 15 hours to produce and redact the responsive records, it is unclear why the Department requires this much time. The Department must advise how much time is needed to search and how much time is needed to segregate and/or redact under the law. Additionally, if redactions are required, I find the Department 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. Further, it is uncertain how many pages of responsive records the Department possesses and how many minutes per page the Department requires to segregate or redact the records. Based on the Department’s response, it is also uncertain how the Department can assess a fee for “quality assurance” under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii). The Department must clarify how this task constitutes time to search for, compile, segregate, redact, or reproduce records. Accordingly, the Department must provide further details regarding its fee estimate. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). 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 is also reminded that 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). Consequently, the Department must clarify whether its fee estimate includes time for segregation or redaction not required by law and whether its fee estimate includes time for the first two hours of employee time. For the reasons discussed above, I find the Department must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee estimate of $276.30 is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). This office encourages the Mr. Dias and the Department to communicate 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 Department is ordered to provide Mr. Dias with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (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

Ashley Ferreira SPR25/2339 Page 5 August 18, 2025 pre@sec.state.ma.us. Mr. Dias may appeal the substantive nature of the Department’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Collin Dias