Yesterday morning the Executive Directors of the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission and Office of Open Records joined together for a virtual training on the Ethics Act and Right-to-Know Law. The entire session is available to watch on the OOR’s YouTube channel and both of the presentations are available here:State Ethics Commission Presentation (PDF)Office of Open … Continue reading Presentations from Pennsylvania Good Government Symposium
The Office of Open Records is proud to present its 2024 Annual Report. Highlights from report include: The OOR is required to “annually report on its activities and findings to the Governor and the General Assembly” (Section 1310(a)(9) of the Right-to-Know Law). Previous annual reports are available here.
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
| Docket | Date | Title | County | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20250670 | 03/21/2025 | Maggie Christiansen and McKenna Snyder LLC v. Warren County School District | Warren | Dismissed: Premature |
| 20250669 | 03/21/2025 | Maggie Christiansen and McKenna Snyder LLC v. Southern York County School District | York | Dismissed: Premature |
| 20250488 | 03/21/2025 | Jason Nicholas and The Free Lance News v. Pennsylvania Department of Corrections | Commonwealth | Denied |
| 20250411 | 03/21/2025 | Dale Moyer v. Boyertown Borough | Berks | Denied |
| 20250313 | 03/21/2025 | John DeMasi v. Upper Darby Township | Delaware | Denied |
| 20250244 | 03/21/2025 | Sherri Bourneuf v. Lower Nazareth Township | Northampton | Denied |
| 20250084 | 03/21/2025 | William Horton v. Lansdowne Borough | Delaware | Partially Granted/Partially Denied |
| Date | Organization | |
|---|---|---|
| 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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