FOIA Anonymous v. Human Resources Division (SPR 20253566)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records December 10, 2025 SPR25/3566 Michele M. Heffernan, Esq. Primary Records Access Officer Human Resources Division 100 Cambridge Street, Suite 600 Boston, MA 02114 Dear Attorney Heffernan: On December 3, 2025, this office received your petition on behalf of the Massachusetts Human Resources Division (Division/HRD) seeking permission to charge for time spent segregating or redacting responsive records. 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, the Division furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor, FOIA-Anonymous (requestor). G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(2). On December 3, 2025, the requestor sought the following: Any email from HRD to any member of the Chicopee Police Department, and any email from any member of the Chicopee Police Department to HRD from the following time frames[:] 9/4/2025[,] 9/19/2025-9/22/2025[,] [and] 11/20/2025- 11/21/2025[.] Shall include but not limited to: Notice to appear[,] Official examination results[,] E&E Claim[,] [and] Any appeal[.] In an email to this office on December 5, 2025, the Division provided additional information regarding its petition. Petition to Assess Fees – Agencies 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 (Supervisor) 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). 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 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

Michele M. Heffernan, Esq. SPR25/3566 Page 2 December 10, 2025 circumstances. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). The statute sets out a two-prong test for determining whether the Supervisor may approve an agency’s petition to allow the agency to charge for time spent segregating or redacting records. The first prong is whether the request for records was made for a commercial purpose. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). It is my determination 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 agency 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; 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 – Agencies An agency 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). Agencies may not assess a fee for the first four (4) hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(ii). Where appropriate, agencies 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. Current Petition In its petition, in addition to segregation and redaction under G. L. c. 66, § 10B as it operates under Exemption (a) of the Public Records Law, the Division seeks permission to assess fees “for time spent segregating and redacting records” at a rate of $25.00 per hour. In support of its request, the Division advises, “[i]n order to respond, several employees will have to search multiple email accounts and also access the testing database to download between 5-8 records for each member of the Chicopee Police Department. Any personal information, including home address, will have to be redacted.” Additionally in an email to this office on December 5, 2025, the Division further explains the following regarding its intent to charge for its work segregating and redacting the responsive

Michele M. Heffernan, Esq. SPR25/3566 Page 3 December 10, 2025 records under Exemptions (c) and (o): The requested records include applicant information, including but not limited to, employee home addresses of members of the Chicopee Police Department, as well as their personal identification numbers, resumes, evaluative information, academic records. As such, HRD must redact the personal identification numbers and other personnel information, such as evaluative information under Subsection (c). In addition, exemption (o) is also required as the employees are employed by a political subsdivision of the commonwealth and home addresses [of Department Employees] cannot be disclosed. . . . In light of the Division’s petition, I find the Division has met its burden to explain how, given the nature of the responsive records, the request could not prudently be completed without redaction or segregation. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). To the extent the responsive records contain the exempt information as described above, the Division may assess a fee for the segregation and redaction of such exempt material. Conclusion In light of the above, to the extent the responsive records contain the exempt information described in its petition, the Division may assess a fee for segregation and redaction. Please note, the requestor has the right to seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the appropriate superior court. See G. L. c. 66, §§ 10(c), 10(d)(iv)(4), 10A(c). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: FOIA-Anonymous