In honor of Sunshine Week 2025, join us in-person or virtually on March 17 (11 a.m. – 12 p.m.) for a round-up of the major decisions and happenings with Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law and the Sunshine Act. Paula Knudsen Burke, the Pennsylvania-based attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, will moderate a panel … Continue reading Join Us During Sunshine Week: Getting to Know PA’s Transparency Laws
Hosted by Pennsylvania’s State Ethics Commission and Office of Open Records Good government is basic principle, built on the foundation of public trust and the exchange of information between governments and the public they serve. As a government employee, how can you be a steward of good government? What are your legal obligations? Join the … Continue reading Pennsylvania Good Government Symposium
In observance of “Love Data Week”, I joined Temple University Libraries to talk about requesting data via the RTKL. My slides are here.
When providing an invoice for legal services, an agency should redact the least amount of information possible, and not redact generic information within an entry identifying things such as “phone call,” “email,” “research”. 2024-2498 An agency must refund a requester for those pages that it printed out that did not require redaction. 2024-2754 Arbitrators’ opinions … Continue reading Transparency Zone, November/December 2024
This past summer, the OOR conducted a survey of 917 Agency Open Records Officers (AOROS) across the Commonwealth and followed up with longer one-on-one interviews with 30 AOROs. The survey report is now available: OOR 2024 Survey Report The survey and interviews included questions about the following: The OOR’s two summer interns of 2024, Ethan … Continue reading Report on Survey of Open Records Officers
The denial of a request for reports relating to a 1981 death is upheld, citing the noncriminal investigation exemption. 2024-2522 A settlement agreement is not exempt from disclosure because it was presented to a quorum at a public meeting for purpose of deliberation. 2024-2238 Visit Hershey & Harrisburg is not an agency under the Right-to-Know … Continue reading Transparency Zone: September/October 2024
Exemption 708(b)(10) describes certain internal records that may be withheld in response to a Right-to-Know Law request. Deputy Chief Counsel Magdalene Zeppos-Brown provided the legal analysis. As of November 18, 2024, this exemption has been cited in 1,270 OOR appeals. Section 708(b)(10) exempts: A series of case law explains the categories of records to which … Continue reading Exemptions, Explained: 708 (b)(10), Internal Records
The Office of Open Records has two important updates to share: 1) We have updated the Standard Right-to-Know Law Request Form. Among other changes, the form is now two pages and includes a required checkbox affirming that the provided name and contact information is accurate and that the requester is a legal resident of the … Continue reading OOR Updates the Standard RTKL Request Form and OOR’s RTKL Request Policy
In certain situations, an agency may withhold records documenting another agency’s investigation. 2024-1042 A township must provide copies of the checks requested, even if those checks are stored by a bank. Where an agency does not have physical possession of a record of the agency, but it is held by a third-party custodian, the agency … Continue reading Transparency Zone, August 2024
A $32,050 fee was invalid due to the cost estimation not being “more than a guess”. However, the agency was permitted to seek prepayment of fees based upon a good faith estimate. 2024-0956 Similar requests are not necessarily disruptive. An agency must provide evidence that a request is disruptive. 2024-1625 The Office of Open Records … Continue reading Transparency Zone, July 2024
| Docket | Date | Title | County | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20250547 | 03/07/2025 | John DeMasi v. Millbourne Borough | Delaware | Dismissed: Untimely |
| 20250545 | 03/07/2025 | James Melia v. Pennsylvania Department of Human Services | Commonwealth | Dismissed: Premature |
| 20250544 | 03/07/2025 | Tori Kidwell v. Arnold City | Westmoreland | Dismissed: Premature |
| 20250541 | 03/07/2025 | Francis Morrison v. Reading City | Berks | Dismissed: Untimely |
| 20250394 | 03/07/2025 | Michael Welch and Defender Association of Philadelphia v. Pennsylvania Department of Human Services | Commonwealth | Dismissed: Premature |
| 20250370 | 03/07/2025 | Michael Wereschagin and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette v. Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh | Allegheny | Withdrawn |
| 20250347 | 03/07/2025 | James Petusky v. Girardville Borough | Schuylkill | Denied: Moot |
| Date | Organization | |
|---|---|---|
| March 14, 2025, 12:00 PM | GPLLA Public Records Panel | |
| March 15, 2025, 9:30 AM | Understanding the Right-to-Know Law and Sunshine Act’s Relevance to Libraries | |
| March 17, 2025, 11:00 AM | Sunshine Week Panel | |
| March 19, 2025, 10:00 AM | 2024 Good Government Symposium | |
| June 3, 2025, 9:30 AM | The Latest Developments in the Right-to-Know Law | |
| October 13, 2025, 12:00 AM | PNA Foundation RTKL Training |
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