Sharkey, Kyle v. Canton, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20260540)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records February 27, 2026 SPR26/0540 Deputy Chief Patricia A. Sherrill Canton Police Department 1492 Washington Street Canton, MA 02021 Dear Deputy Chief Sherrill: I have received the petition of Kyle Sharkey appealing the response of the Canton 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 January 2, 2026, Mr. Sharkey requested: All E-mail communications between any former or current member of the Boston Police Department to/from any current or former member of the Canton Police Department. . . . In relation to the death of [an identified] Boston Police Officer[.] Key name searches . . . . On January 25, 2026, Mr. Sharkey narrowed the scope of his request to “[five] email addresses noted below . . . .” The Department responded on January 16, 2026 and February 6, 2026, providing fee estimates. Unsatisfied with the Department’s February 6th response, Mr. Sharkey petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR26/0540, was opened as a result. The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). “Public records” is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any agency or municipality of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). 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

Deputy Chief Patricia A. Sherrill SPR26/0540 Page 2 February 27, 2026 It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. 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 appeal petition, Mr. Sharkey contends, “[the] Town of Canton [r]esponded with an astronomical amount[.] . . . I would request that they do a better [s]earch, explain why they cannot narrow down, why do they have to look through 40 email addresses among others items to fulfill this public records request[.]” The Department’s January 16th and February 6th Responses In its January 16, 2026 response, the Department identified “over 1.47 million emails potentially responsive to [Mr. Sharkey’s] request” and provided a fee estimate of “$1,825,000.00 . . . based on an estimated 73,000 total hours at $25.00 an hour to complete your request(s).”

Deputy Chief Patricia A. Sherrill SPR26/0540 Page 3 February 27, 2026 In its February 6, 2026 response to Mr. Sharkey’s narrowed request, the Department stated: Please be advised that a fee will be assessed for the costs for the time associated with searching for, compiling, segregating, reproducing and redacting the requested records as required by law. See G.L. c. 66 §10(d)(iii). The Town’s preliminary analysis has yielded 185,523 potentially responsive email records as it pertains to [an identified individual]. Additionally, your request necessitates that the Town review and analyze the email accounts of over forty (40) Canton Police Department email accounts to ascertain and assemble potentially responsive communications for the other individuals referenced in your request. The Town estimates that, at a minimum, it will take an average of one (1) hour per account to review, assemble, and redact as required by law the forty (40) Department email accounts. Additionally, even when allocating as little as three (3) minutes per email to review, assemble, and redact as required by the law, the Town estimates that it will take approximately 9,276 hours to assemble, review, and redact, and produce the potentially responsive [identified individual] email records. As the Town is a municipality with a population in excess of twenty thousand (20,000) people, a fee will not be imposed for the first two (2) hours dedicated to your request. Based on the Town’s good faith estimate, a fee of $232,850.00 will be required which is based on an estimated 9,314 total hours at $25.00 an hour to complete your request(s). Please be advised that the actual cost and fee of producing the records may vary upon preparation of such record(s). Active Litigation 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2)(b) provides in pertinent part: the Supervisor may deny an appeal for, among other reasons if, in the opinion of the Supervisor: 1. the public records in question are the subjects of disputes in active litigation, administrative hearings or mediation. This office has reviewed the trial court’s docket and verified that civil litigation, relating to the records that are the subject of Mr. Sharkey’s appeal, is active and ongoing in Plymouth County Superior Court. See Paul O’Keefe Individually and Personal Rep of the Estate of John Joseph O’Keefe III et al v. C&C Hospitality, LLC d/b/a C.F. McCarthy’s et al, (Plymouth County Docket No. 2483CV00692) (August 26, 2024). In light of the active litigation, I decline to opine on this matter at this time. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2)(b). It should be noted that a change in the status of this action could impact the applicability of 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2)(b).

Deputy Chief Patricia A. Sherrill SPR26/0540 Page 4 February 27, 2026 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Kyle Sharkey