|
Clearfield County, PA - Pennsylvania’s Right to Know law has been interpreted by the Office of Open Records to mean that records held by a company hired by a Commonwealth agency are considered public records and are subject to the law. Therefore, the records need to be supplied by the agency even if they do not have physical possession of the required records.
In this case, the Greater Pennsylvania Regional council of Carpenters requested public information about the payroll disbursements of a Clearfield County grant given to the Bionol ethanol project through the Clearfield County Economic Development Corporation. The Office of Open Records ruled that the records are public and still subject to the Right to Know Law.
Bionol estimates the cost to copy the payroll records, redacting social security numbers, is approximately $6000 for the 6,000 pages, and that it would take longer than the 30-day deadline given by the Office of Open Records. Furthermore, Bionol is asking for the payment up front. The Right to Know law limits the county charge for public records copies to 25cents per page. The law does not actually say who would be responsible for the additional cost, so negotiations are in process.[1]
| 
