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Public Records Open Records

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

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

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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

Saiber LLC

New Jersey Governor Amends Its Open Public Records Act

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On June 5, 2024, Governor Phil Murphy signed into law the first comprehensive reform to New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA) since its passing in 2002. This amendment to the long standing legislation was met with much...more

Lowenstein Sandler LLP

Controversial OPRA Amendment Has Potentially Significant Implications for New Jersey Environmental Professionals

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On June 5, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed long-contested legislation, S2930 (2024 OPRA Amendment), amending the Open Public Records Act (OPRA), N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1, et seq. As most New Jersey environmental practitioners...more

Pullman & Comley - School Law

Welcome To The Board: What New Board Members Need To Know About The FOIA

Congratulations on your election to the board of education and thank you for volunteering your time to your community.  As you begin to embark on your board journey you will unfortunately, find that way too much of your time...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

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

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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

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

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

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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

Pullman & Comley - Labor, Employment and...

As The Leaves Are Changing - What Has (and Has Not) Changed with the FOIA?

As the summer (and your vacation) becomes a distant memory, and the days get shorter and colder, I’ll bet you have had passing thoughts about changes to Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Act’s (“FOIA”), especially in light...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

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

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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

Furia Rubel Communications, Inc.

Forging a Career in Open Records Law: On Record PR

In this episode of On Record PR, Gina Rubel goes on record with Terry Mutchler, Chair of Transparency Law and Public Data Practice at Obermayer, to discuss her trailblazing career helping clients navigate open records law....more

Franczek P.C.

FOIA Does Not Require Public Bodies to Compel Production of Third-Party Records

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The Illinois Appellate Court recently ruled that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) does not obligate a public body to produce records that it does not already maintain in response to a FOIA request. Further, the Court...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

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

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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

Venable LLP

FOIL Law Simplified

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Nearly anyone who can read a newspaper understands the meaning of a FOIL or FOIA request. FOIA refers to the Freedom of Information Act, which allows a requester to obtain documents from federal agencies, while its...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

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

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on

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

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Understanding the Right to Know Law and Why Certain Documents May be Protected

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on

You may notice water being diverted from a neighboring property onto your property. Or, perhaps you have concerns that the property located above yours seems to be shifting, and you fear a landslide....more

Reveal

Practical Solutions To Public Records Request Challenges

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When it comes to data and records management functions at government agencies, recent years have been trying times. A number of concerning trends have continued to be a factor, such as the growth of the data generated by...more

Lathrop GPM

A Win for Open and Transparent Government in Missouri

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In a win for open and transparent government in Missouri, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the Missouri Sunshine Law prohibits public governmental bodies from charging persons who request public records under the...more

Reveal

Sensitive Information | How To Properly Apply Redactions And Avoid Inadvertent Disclosures

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Lawyers handle tremendous amounts of sensitive information every day: their clients’ personal data, including both personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI), intellectual property, trade...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

What Every School Board Member Should Know Before Using Social Media

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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

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

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

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on

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

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

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

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on

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

Lathrop GPM

No Choice in the Matter – Recent Victory for Lathrop GPM Client to Have Significant Impact on Government Disclosure of...

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In March, Lathrop GPM published a Litigation Alert: Tell Me More – Compliance with Open Records Laws Amidst the Coronavirus, which discussed the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on public records requests. That...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

OOR Explains Duty to Provide 911 Records

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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

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

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

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

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

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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

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

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

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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

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