The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth

Public Records Division
Shawn A. Williams
Supervisor ofRecords

December 5, 2014
SPR14/551
Detective James D. Costa
Fall River Police Department
685 Pleasant Street
Fall River, MA 02721
Dear Detective Costa:
I have received the petition of Andrew Quemere appealing the response of the Fall River
Police Department (Department) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 1O(b); 950
C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Quemere made two requests for records. In the first, Mr.
Quemere requested any records related to the Department's use of a specific vendor. In the
second request Mr. Quemere requested copies of Department records concerning the
investigation of a specifically identified individual.

Basis ofAppeal
Mr. Quemere appealed the fee estimate provided by the Department in response to his
requests. Mr. Quemere also objected to what he characterized as a requirement by the
Department that all public records requests be made in writing. Finally, Mr. Quemere requested
assistance from this office in providing Public Records Law training to Department staff.

Requests for Public Records May be Oral or Written

In his request Mr. Quemere noted that his associate was instructed by Department staff
that all requests for public records be made in writing. Under the Public Records Law and its
Access Regulations (Regulations) a request may be oral or written. G. L. c. 66, 1O(b); 950
C.M.R. 32.05(1). There is no requirement in the law that requests be made in writing; however,
a requester may only appeal to this office if a request is made in writing. Accordingly, the
Department is advised that a records custodian is not permitted to require that requests for public
records be made in writing.

OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 (617) 727-2832 Fax (617) 727-5914
www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Detective James D. Costa

Page Two
December 5, 2014

SPR14/551

Request for Fee Waiver

Mr. Quemere requested that the Department waive any fees associated with his request
for public records. The Regulations encourage records custodians to waive fees when such a
waiver is in the public interest; however, this office may not compel a records custodian to do so.
See 950 C.M.R. 32.06. Accordingly, the Department is not required to waive fees, so long as
written estimates for fees are provided in a manner consistent with the requirements of the
Regulations.

Fees for Police Department Records

A custodian of records may assess a reasonable fee for complying with a request for
public records. G. L. c. 66, lO(a); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2) (where cost of complying with
a request for public records is expected to exceed ten dollars ($10.00), custodian of records shall
provide written good faith estimate).
Absent specific statutory authority to the contrary, the fees to be charged for complying
with requests for public records are established by the Regulations. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06.
Under the Regulations, a custodian of records may assess a maximum fee of twenty cents ($.20)
per page for a photocopy of a public record and fifty cents ($.50) per page for a computer
printout of a public record. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06(1)(a).
In its response the Department assessed a fee of $1.00 per page for copies of responsive
records. While the response cited Section 10 of Chapter 66 of the General Laws, the response
did not specifically mention the statutory authority contained within that section with respect to
fees for police department records. See G. L. c. 66, lO(a).
The Department has, therefore, failed to meet its burden of specificity under the law in its
response to Mr. Quemere's request. The Department is hereby ordered to provide Mr. Quemere
a revised fee estimate to properly reflect the cost for copies of all records, revised in a manner
consistent with the Public Records Law and the Regulations. This revised estimate must be
provided within ten (10) days.
This failure by the Department to comply with its statutory obligations of specificity
regarding fees for copies raises concerns as to the Department's general knowledge of its other
obligations under the Public Records Law and its Regulations. The Supervisor of Records is
responsible for ensuring that the records of the Commonwealth, counties, cities and towns are
maintained and stored as required by law. See G. L. c. 66, 1.
The Department is hereby ordered to conduct mandatory training in the area of the Public
Records Law. At that time, an attorney from my staff will provide copies of our publication, A
Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, and will be available to answer questions. The

Detective James D. Costa

Page Two
December 5, 2014

SPR14/551

Department is hereby ordered to contact this office to arrange for such training, which may be
extended to all Department staff as well as other staff members within the City.
Accordingly, whereas I find that the Department must revise its fee estimate to Mr.
Quemere, further whereas the Department is advised that it must acce oral requests for public
records, and finally whereas the Department is ordered to conduct m datory Public Records
Law training, to be provided by my staff, I will consider t d ini1 t ative appeal closed.

cc: Mr. Andrew Quemere