Ryan Higgins v. Mashpee, Town of (SPR 20252619)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records September 12, 2025 SPR25/2619 Rodney C. Collins Town Manager Town of Mashpee 16 Great Neck Road North Mashpee, MA 02649 Dear Mr. Collins: I have received the petition of Ryan Higgins appealing the response of the Town of Mashpee (Town) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On June 7, 2025, Mr. Higgins requested “… any and all records related to the investigation that began on January 21, 2025, concerning allegations of discriminatory harassment and retaliation at the Mashpee Fire Department.” The Town responded on June 24, 2025. Unsatisfied with the response, Mr. Higgins petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/2619, 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

Rodney C. Collins SPR25/2619 Page 2 September 12, 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). Status of the Requestor; Reason for the Request Please note that the reason for which a requestor seeks access to or a copy of a public record does not afford any greater right of access to the requested information than other persons in the general public. The Public Records Law does not distinguish between requestors. Access to a record pursuant to the Public Records Law rests on the content of the record and not the circumstances of the requestor. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a); see also Bougas v. Chief of Police of Lexington, 371 Mass. 59, 64 (1976). Accordingly, Mr. Higgins’ status has no bearing on the public status of any existing responsive records. The Town’s June 24th Response In its June 24, 2025 response, the Town assessed a fee of $100.00 to produce 100 pages of responsive records. The Town detailed the assessed fee as follows: In addition to the volume of the records requested, the Town requires additional time for production of all public records after necessary review and redactions are made due to the confidential and personal nature of the records. The Town estimates a segregation and redaction fee of $100 ($25/hour x 4 hours) to complete its review … [P]lease be advised that any documents that pertain solely to you will be provided with redactions of any information that would result in embarrassment to a person of “normal sensibilities” in order to protect the privacy of the specifically named individual or individuals who are the subject(s) of those documents … these redactions are in accordance with M.G.K. c. 4, §7 (26) (c) … the personal identifying information of witnesses are also exempt under Exemption (f)[.] 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).” In this case, Mr. Higgins submitted his request on June 7, 2025 and the Town initially responded on June 24, 2025, within 10 business days, by providing a fee estimate. Please note that June 19, 2025 was a legal holiday. Accordingly, I find the Town may assess a fee to produce responsive records.

Rodney C. Collins SPR25/2619 Page 3 September 12, 2025 Reasonableness of the Fee Estimate The Town is advised that under 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 pursuant to 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). Where I am not aware that the Town has submitted a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv), seeking permission to charge for redactions not required by law, I find that the Town may not assess a fee for time spent redacting responsive records under Exemptions (c) and (f) of the Public Records Law. For the reason discussed above, I find the Town must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee of $100.00 assessed in its June 24, 2025 estimate is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). This office encourages Mr. Higgins and the Town 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 Town is ordered to provide Mr. Higgins 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. Higgins may appeal the substantive nature of the Town’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Ryan Higgins