Christopher Voltz on Public Records

OOR (Office of Open Records) Holds that “Frank Curry” FOIA Buddy Requests Can Be Denied for Being Anonymous

In Frank Curry and FOIABuddy v. South Western School District, AP 2024-1311, a school district (“District”) received a request for records related to IT operations, contracts, staff, and IT budget from Frank Curry and...more

7/22/2024 / Anonymization , FOIA , Open Records , Public Records , Records Request , Right To Know , School Boards , State and Local Government

Commonwealth Court Holds that OOR Erred in Not Allowing Agency an Opportunity to Review Responsive Records for Exemptions after...

In Pa. Office of the Governor v. Brelje, 2024 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 65, at *1 (Commw. Ct. Feb. 23, 2024), the Office of Open Records (“OOR”) concluded that requests for all incoming and outgoing email for two agency employees over...more

3/12/2024 / Document Review , Email , Exemptions , Open Records , Public Records , Right To Know , State and Local Government

Communications Related to a School District’s Investigation Into Complaints About Library Books Are Not Public Records

Foster v. Pennridge School District, AP 2023-0931 (July 5, 2023). The Office of Open Records determined that a school district properly redacted and withheld certain email chains discussing the school district’s investigation...more

11/14/2023 / Exemptions , Investigations , Libraries , Open Records , Public Records , Redaction , Right To Know , School Districts

OOR Confirms that Local Agencies Can Provide Responsive Records in PDF Format

In Forrest v. Erie City, AP 2023-1701 (Sept. 28, 2023), Erie City responded to a request for a list of all rental properties registered and licensed in the City in an Excel spreadsheet by providing a PDF conversion of the...more

10/18/2023 / Municipalities , Open Records , Public Agencies , Public Records , Records Request , Right To Know , State and Local Government

PA Office of Open Records Holds That Borough Cannot Fully Redact Non Responsive Entries in Legal Invoices

In Seman v. Baldwin Borough, AP 2023-00778, the Requester sought legal invoices related to a specific project. In responding to the Request, the Borough completely redacted entries in the legal invoices that were not related...more

6/27/2023 / Attorney-Client Privilege , Discovery , Invoices , Legal Fees , Open Records , Privileged Communication , Public Projects , Public Records , Redacted Documents , Redaction

Commonwealth Court Holds that the Failure to Identify a Transaction or Activity of an Agency in a Request for Records Under the...

Methacton Sch. Dist. v. Off. of Open Records of Cmmw., 250 C.D. 2021, 2021 WL 6122163, at *1 (Pa. Cmmw. Dec. 28, 2021). The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania holds that a request for the emails of four individuals over a...more

6/17/2022 / Email , Open Records , Public Records , Records Request , Right To Know , School Boards , School Districts , State and Local Government

What Every School Board Member Should Know Before Using Social Media

As an elected school board member, you are looked to as a community leader and are expected to take a leadership role in representing your school district’s interests. In fulfilling this role, many school board members...more

6/21/2021 / Facebook , Open Records , Public Communications , Public Records , Right To Know , School Boards , Social Networks , State and Local Government

OOR Continues to Hold that Names and Home Addresses Are Protected by the Constitutional Right to Privacy, but that Tax Map Parcel...

In Rosner v. Buckingham Township, AP 2020-1364 (“Rosner II”), the Township redacted residents’ names, home addresses, and tax map parcel I.D. numbers from the requested invoices setting forth charges to residents under the...more

12/24/2020 / Open Records , Personal Information , Property Owners , Public Records , Records Request , Right to Privacy , State and Local Government

OOR Holds that Individual Names and Addresses contained in Stormwater Management Agreements and Grant of Easement Agreements Are...

In Rosner v. Buckingham Township, AP 2020-0623 (“Rosner I”), the request sought Stormwater Management Agreements and Grant of Easement Agreements relating to certain properties within the Township. The Township redacted the...more

12/16/2020 / Land-Use Permits , Open Records , PA Supreme Court , Personal Information , Public Records , Records Request , Redacted Documents , Right to Privacy , Stormwater Discharge Permits

OOR Explains Duty to Provide 911 Records

In Serfass v. Northampton County, AP 2019-1664 (Nov. 7, 2019), the Requester sought 911 call records. The County denied the Request, arguing that the responsive records were exempt Section 708(b)(18) of the RTKL, which...more

1/15/2020 / 911 Calls , Open Records , Public Records , Records Request , Redaction , Right To Know , State and Local Government

OOR Confirms that Requesters Can Seek the Same Records Twice Under the RTKL

Previously, this blog address how the Office of Open Records, in Steinheiser v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, AP 2019-1877 (Nov. 6, 2019), confirmed that local agencies are not required to provide original...more

1/8/2020 / Open Records , Public Records , Records Request , Right To Know , State and Local Government

OOR Confirms that Agencies are Not Required to Provide Original Documents When Responding to RTKL Request

In Steinheiser v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, AP 2019-1877 (Nov. 6, 2019), the Requester sought the business card of SEPTA’s Open Records Officer. In response, SEPTA provided a scanned copy of the card. ...more

12/17/2019 / Open Records , Public Records , Records Request , Right To Know , State and Local Government

OOR Confirms that Records Created or Obtained through the Safe2Say Something Program are Not Public Records

In Maciejewski v. Southern Columbia Area School District, AP 2019-1094 (Sept 16, 2019), the Request sought all emails between 10 District email addresses over a 14-day time frame. The District argued that certain responsive...more

11/12/2019 / Confidential Information , Email , Open Records , Public Records , Public Schools , Records Request , Right To Know , School Boards , State and Local Government

OOR Determines that Emails from Members of the Public to an Agency are Records “of” the Agency

In Ruland v. Southern York County School District, AP 2019-0567 (Aug. 8, 2019), the OOR concluded that, in certain circumstances, emails from community members to an agency can be public records. In this case, the...more

9/24/2019 / Email , Open Records , Public Records , Records Request , Right To Know , School Districts , State and Local Government

OOR Determines that Records Submitted to the OOR are not Records “of” the OOR

In Friedman v. Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, AP 2019-1182 (Aug. 28, 2019), the Office of Open Records (“OOR”) discussed whether all records delivered to and in the possession of an agency are records “of” that agency...more

9/9/2019 / Open Records , Public Records , Public Utilities Commission , Records Request , Right To Know , State and Local Government

Commonwealth Court Establishes Test to Determine Whether Volunteer Fire Companies are Subject to the RTKL

An entity must be a Commonwealth agency, a local agency, a judicial agency or a legislative agency to be subject to the RTKL. 65 P.S. § 67.302. In Pysher v. Clinton Township Vol. Fire Co., 1237 C.D. 2017, 2019 WL 2017782, at...more

8/28/2019 / Fire Departments , Government Entities , Multi-Factor Test , Nonprofits , Open Records , Public Records , Records Request , Right To Know , State and Local Government , Volunteers

OOR Provides Guidance as to when Requests for Emails are Insufficiently Specific

We’ve addressed whether RTKL request are sufficiently specific before, but it’s worth reexamining the issue again in the context of requests for electronic correspondence because requesters frequently make broad requests for...more

8/19/2019 / Electronic Communications , Email , Open Records , Public Records , Records Request , Right To Know , State and Local Government

Agencies Are Not Required to Identify Which Records are Responsive to Each Part of a Request (901)

When responding to large requests, Open Records Officer frequently identify records that are responsive to one part of a request but not another. Does the response letter need to identify which records are responsive to each...more

8/5/2019 / Open Records , Public Records , Records Request , Right To Know , State and Local Government

OOR Holds that Borough’s Use of Taser Policy is Partially Exempt

Last week, we discussed how the OOR concluded that, for the most part, Taser discharge reports are public records. This week, we’ll examine whether policies related to Tasers are public records. In Ciavaglia v. Newtown...more

7/24/2019 / Law Enforcement , Municipalities , Open Records , Public Records , Public Safety , Right To Know , State and Local Government

OOR Holds that Police Taser Usage Reports Are, in Part, Public Records

In Ciavaglia v. New Hope Borough, AP 2019-0707 (June 19, 2019), the Requester sought copies of “Taser Usage Report Forms” from the Borough. The Borough denied the Request, arguing that the records relate to criminal and...more

7/16/2019 / Law Enforcement , Open Records , Personally Identifiable Information , Public Records , Right To Know

OOR Holds that Some Development Plans Cannot Be Copied Pursuant to the Copyright Act

In Zove v. Whitemarsh Township, AP 2019-0739 (June 14, 2019), the Requester sought to inspect and obtain copies of documents, plans and memos relating to a preliminary development plan. The Township partially granted the...more

7/9/2019 / Fair Use , Public Records , Real Estate Development , Right To Know , The Copyright Act

OOR Holds that Zoning Permit Application is not Exempt under the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code

The 30 exceptions set forth in Section 708(b) of RTKL are not an exhaustive list of records that can or must be withheld from disclosure under the RTKL. Instead, Section 102 of the RTKL contains a catch-all, stating that any...more

7/2/2019 / Building Permits , Municipalities , Open Records , Public Records , Records Request , Right To Know , State and Local Government

ORR Holds that Records Documenting the Locations of Gunshot Sensors in the Possession of a Third Party are Public Records

Last week, we discussed a case where the OOR found that certain records in the possession of a third party were beyond the scope of Section 506(d)(1) of the RTKL. This week, we’ll discuss a case where the OOR concluded...more

6/18/2019 / Open Records , Public Records , Records Request , Right To Know , Third-Party

ORR Holds that the Investigative File of a Municipality’s Insurance Company is Not a Public Record

Under the RTKL, two groups of records are accessible—those records in an agency’s actual or constructive possession reached directly under Section 901 of the RTKL and records that are only in the possession of third parties...more

6/10/2019 / Municipalities , Open Records , Public Records , Right To Know , State and Local Government

Appointment Calendars Are Not Public Records (Section 708(b)(12))

Open Records Officers will occasionally receive requests for the appointment calendars of certain agency employees and officers. These calendars, whether electronic or paper, typically contain a schedule daily activities and...more

5/14/2019 / Open Records , Public Records , Records Request , Right To Know , State and Local Government

Christopher Voltz

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

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