Selectmen Approve New Public Records Policy
Due to the backlog of requests for public records, the Rehoboth Board of Selectmen have approved a new policy which will include charging fees. Selectman Michael Deignan said the high volume of requests was causing a “significant drain” on personnel resources. “In some instances we’re being asked to do research that takes dozens of hours, produce hundreds of pages of documents, and the town has not been charging for much of this work,” Deignan continued.
To help expedite the requests, there will be four designated records officers including Town Administrator Deb Arruda, Town Clerk Laura Schwall, Police Chief James Trombetta, and Fire Chief Frank Barresi.
Deignan said the Public Records Law allows the town to charge certain types of fees associated with public records requests. “We would come up with an estimate of what the charge is and that would be supplied to the individual making the request and they can opt to pay for the charge and receive the records, or they can decide not to,” Deignan added.
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Michael_P_Deignan
Note the new policy principally affects businesses that make large requests that take many hours of employee time to fulfill, which the town up until now has not been charging for. Town residents and businesses that make requests which take a small amount of time should not be affected by this policy.
Friday, January 21, 2022 Report this