Shawn Blankenship v. North Brookfield Police Department (SPR 20253154)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records November 5, 2025 SPR25/3154 Chief Mark Smith North Brookfield Police Department 55 School Street North Brookfield, MA 01535 Dear Chief Smith: I have received the petition of Shawn Blankenship appealing the response of the North Brookfield 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 September 30, 2025, Mr. Blankenship requested “copies of all the following”: for the date of September 30, 2025 all materials regarding [an identified name] and [an identified name] and any alleged victims and complainers. Please forward all materials to me and [an identified name] of the [A]ttorney [G]eneral[’s] office. [1] All call numbers [2] All [incident reports] [3] All narratives [4] All complaints [5] All witness statements [6] All related body cam footage [7] All recommended charges [8] All witness statements [9] All recorded interviews including [l]obby interview room audio and videos. [10] All evidence camera footage of the witnesses and of Hannafords store. P[l]ease send requested records to my attention at the address above. The Department responded on October 3, 2025. Unsatisfied with the response, Mr. Blankenship petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/3154, was opened as a result. Subsequently, the Department provided Mr. Blankenship with a further response and fee estimate on October 30, 2025, which Mr. Blankenship appealed. 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

Chief Mark Smith SPR25/3154 Page 2 November 5, 2025 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). 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). Current Appeal In his October 28, 2025 appeal, Mr. Blankenship contends, “[an identified individual] is … not providing the materials requested for me to report complaints to the DOJ…. Please [c]ompel him to send me my requested materials so I can proceed with complaints to the DOJ and AGO.” On October 30, 2025, Mr. Blankenship appealed the Department’s October 30, 2025 response, stating, “I would like to appeal please for incomplete request. The original witness statements, other call numbers and one witness statement. He is intentionally withholding to protect [an identified individual].” The Department’s October 3rd Response On October 3, 2025, the Department responded that “[t]he requested information is part of an ongoing investigation. I anticipate this investigation will be completed by early next week[.] Once the investigation is concluded the[n] I will be able to complete your Public Records request.” On October 30, 2025, the Department provided a file of responsive records and assessed a fee estimate of $20.57 for the remaining records. In support of this fee estimate, the Department states as follows: My responses for your request are attached to this email. I have also attached the

Chief Mark Smith SPR25/3154 Page 3 November 5, 2025 email that was sent to you on October 3, 2025 regarding your past due balance for your previous records requests that were completed an[d] sent to you via email and the United States Postal Service when necessary.… As of that email you owed the Town of North Brookfield 7.08. The additional cost for your video request is $7.20 for postage, $4.20 for the media device your videos will be downloaded to, $2.09 for the protective envelope and $7.20 if you want this delivered requiring a signature. I will need to receive a payment of $20.57 or [$27.77] if you are going to require a signature. As indicated above once I have received payment we will fulfill the video requests you have made. Under the Public Records Law, a records custodian is not required to produce responsive records until receipt of payment of a reasonable fee. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(iii). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. Further, G. L. c. 66, § 10(d) states: (d) A records access officer may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. The reasonable fee shall not exceed the actual cost of reproducing the record. Unless expressly provided for otherwise, the fee shall be determined in accordance with the following: (i) the actual cost of any storage device or material provided to a person in response to a request for public records under subsection (a) may be included as part of the fee, but the fee assessed for standard black and white paper copies or printouts of records shall not exceed 5 cents per page, for both single and double-sided black and white copies or printouts; Where it appears Mr. Blankenship has not yet paid the fee to receive the responsive records, the basis of his appeal is unclear. In compliance with the Public Records Law, the Supervisor of Records may only issue determinations where a violation of G. L. c. 66, § 10 has occurred. G. L. c. 66, § 10A(a). Conclusion Mr. Blankenship is reminded that all petitions for appeal “shall specifically describe the nature of the requestor’s objections to the response or failure to timely respond.” 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(f). Mr. Blankenship may wish to clarify his specific objections to the Department’s response.

Chief Mark Smith SPR25/3154 Page 4 November 5, 2025 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Shawn Blankenship