Harper, Lily v. Shrewsbury, Town of - Police Department (SPR 20261157)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records April 2, 2026 SPR26/1157 Larry Napolitano Administrative Sergeant Town of Shrewsbury 106 Maple Avenue Shrewsbury, MA 01545 Dear Sergeant Napolitano: On March 30, 2026, this office received your petition on behalf of the Shrewsbury Police Department (Department) seeking a waiver of statutory limits on fees that may be assessed in responding to a public records request and 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, it is my understanding that the Department furnished a copy of the petition to the requestor, Lily Harper. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L.c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(2). On March 21, 2026, Ms. Harper requested the following: [1] Incident Report & 911 calls[;] [2] BWC All videos (especially reporting & arresting officer)[;] [3] CCTV footage (if available)[;] Petition to Assess Fees – Municipalities The Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may approve a petition from a municipality to charge for time spent segregating or redacting or to charge in excess of $25 per hour, if the Supervisor determines that 1) the request is for a commercial purpose or 2) the fee represents an actual and good faith representation by the municipality to comply with the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). 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 circumstances. 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

Sergeant Larry Napolitano SPR26/1157 Page 2 April 2, 2026 The statute sets out a two-prong test for determining whether the Supervisor may approve a municipality’s petition to allow the municipality 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 municipality 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 or fee in excess of $25 per hour; 2) the amount of the fee is reasonable; and 3) the fee is not designed to limit, deter or prevent access to requested public records. Id. Fee Estimates – Municipalities A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.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 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). Fee in Excess of $25.00 per Hour In its petition, the Department is seeking to charge an hourly rate of $45.85 per hour for this request. The Department provides the following in support of its request to charge fees in excess of $25.00 per hour: The requested records include the Officers Body Worn Camera footage. The lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill to complete the segregation and redaction of these records is Sergeant Ryan Bradley. This is because within the contained system of our Body Worn Camera program, Sgt. Bradley is the only individual with administrative rights to edit and redact videos. The Sergeant’s normal hourly rate is $45.85.

Sergeant Larry Napolitano SPR26/1157 Page 3 April 2, 2026 I find the Department has met its burden to explain how, given the nature of the responsive body worn camera records, the request could not prudently be completed without assessing a fee in excess of $25.00 per hour. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). Accordingly, the Department may assess a fee limited to $45.85 per hour for segregation and redaction of the body worn camera records responsive to Ms. Harper’s request. Conclusion Accordingly, the Department may assess a fee limited to $45.85 per hour for segregation of the responsive body worn camera records. Please note, Ms. Harper 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: Lily Harper