PETITION OF:

SECTION 1.  Section 10 of Chapter 66 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out subsections (a) and (b) and inserting in place thereof the following:

      (a) Every person having custody of any public record, as defined in clause Twenty-six of section seven of chapter four, shall, at reasonable times and without unreasonable delay, permit it, or any segregable portion of a record which is an independent public record, to be inspected and examined by any person, under his supervision, and shall furnish one copy thereof upon payment of a reasonable fee. Any claim by the custodian that the record, or portion thereof, is not a public record shall be accompanied by an index identifying and describing the record and its source in sufficient detail to enable the requester and the supervisor of records or a court to determine the validity of the custodian's claim. Personal notebooks, notes, and calendars shall not be separate exemptions. Every person for whom a search of public records is made shall, at the direction of the person having custody of such records, pay the actual expense of such search. The following fees shall apply to any public record in the custody of the state police, the Massachusetts bay transportation authority police or any municipal police department or fire department: for preparing and mailing a motor vehicle accident report, five dollars for not more than six pages and fifty cents for each additional page; for preparing and mailing a fire insurance report, five dollars for not more than six pages plus fifty cents for each additional page; for preparing and mailing crime, incident or miscellaneous reports, one dollar per page; for furnishing any public record, in hand, to a person requesting such records, fifty cents per page. A page shall be defined as one side of an eight and one-half inch by eleven inch sheet of paper.

      (b) A custodian of a public record shall, within ten days following receipt of a request for inspection or copy of a public record, comply with such request. Such request may be delivered in hand to the office of the custodian or mailed via first class mail or faxsimile. If the custodian refuses or fails to comply with such a request, the person making the request may petition the supervisor of records for a determination whether the record requested is public. Upon the determination by the supervisor of records that the record is public, he shall order the custodian of the public record to comply with the person's request. If the custodian refuses or fails to comply with any such order, the supervisor of records shall, within five days, notify the attorney general or the appropriate district attorney thereof who shall take whatever measures he deems necessary to insure compliance with the provisions of this section. The supervisor of records may also seek compliance with his order where neither the attorney general nor the appropriate district attorney has achieved enforcement of the order within sixty days of notification. The administrative remedy provided by this section shall in no way limit the availability of the administrative remedies provided by the commissioner of administration and finance with respect to any officer or employee of any agency, executive office, department or board; nor shall the administrative remedy provided by this section in any way limit the availability of judicial remedies otherwise available to any person requesting a public record. If a custodian of a public record refuses or fails to comply with the request of any person for inspection or copy of a public record or with an administrative order under this section, the supreme judicial or superior court shall have jurisdiction to order compliance. The person making the request shall be entitled to an award of reasonable attorney's fees and costs if the custodian withholding the public record was in violation of this chapter.

SECTION 2.

      Chapter 66 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking Section 15 in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following:-

                                Section 15. Whoever unlawfully keeps in his possession any public record or removes it from the room where it is usually kept, or alters, defaces, mutilates or destroys any public record or violates any provision of this chapter shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred nor more than five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. Any public officer who refuses or neglects to perform any duty required of him by this chapter shall for each month of such neglect or refusal be punished by a fine of not less than three hundred nor more than five hundred dollars.