Pennsylvania Office of Open Records
From Sunshine Review
Contents |
Three attorneys work in the office. [1]
[edit] Mission statement
"The Mission of the Office of Open Records is to enforce the state’s Right-to-Know law and to serve as a resource for citizens, public officials and members of the media in obtaining public records of their government." [2]
[edit] Rulings/opinions
As of the end of March 2009, the office has ruled on 71 requests since the new Pennsylvania Right to Know Act went into effect on January 1. It has 170 more active files.[1]
[edit] Rulings under appeal
[edit] Norwegian Township
On March 20, 2009, Norwegian Township, Pennsylvania became the first local government agency to appeal a ruling of OOR. OOR ruled on March 3 that the township is required to provide "employer taxes and contributions" information about what the township pays for its three supervisors. This ruling was in response to a complaint from Charles Zurat, a resident of the township.[1]
In mid-January 2009, Zurat requested salary information from the township. He was given records indicating the supervisors’ gross pay, but not the employer taxes and contributions. Zurat appealed the decision to the OOR on February 2, and OOR ruled that the township had violated the state's law by:
- Failing to provide public records
- Failing to submit a proper written denial
- Failing to support the reasons for its denial with legal citations
- Failing to satisfy its burden of proving that the requested information is not public.
Stanley Petchulis is the township's "open records officer"--a position each government agency in Pennsylvania is required to fill under the state's public access laws. Petchulis said the basis for the township's appeal of the POOR ruling is, "I just think it should remain confidential. I don’t think that he has the right to know all the inner workings of the township."[1]
[edit] York Township
The Board of Commissioners of York Township in York County, Pennsylvania voted on September 8 to appeal a decision of the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records. In a possibly unprecedented move, however, the Board of Commissioners will not foot the bill for the legal appeal; rather, two commissioners will personally pay for the legal fight.[3]
[edit] Advisory opinions
- In February 2009, Franklin Park asked the office for an advisory opinion about whether audio recordings of borough meetings are public records according to the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law, and was told that any such audio recordings are public and copies should be given to those who request them. In response, borough solicitor Robert Max Junker said borough officials are considering whether to develop a policy on how long such recordings must be retained and are also considering putting a stop to their current practice of taping the meetings.[4]
[edit] Deliberative exemption
In February 2009, the Northampton Area School Board discussed the district's 2009-2010 budget document at a meeting. A local newspaper, the 'Morning Call, sought unredacted copies of the budget document using the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law. The district did not comply, so the newspaper filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records.
In a decision issued on March 30, the OOR ruled that the board was within its rights to white out dollar figures from the 2009-10 budget document that it gave the newspaper. A staffperson for the OOR said that the board had the right to protect "pre-decisional deliberative information".[5]
The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association criticized OOR for its decision.[6]
[edit] Private organization told to disclose
On April 16, the OOR said that the East Stroudsburg University Foundation (ESUF) has to disclose some information requested by the Pocono Record. The ESUF is a private, non-profit corporation affiliated with East Stroudsburg University, which is a public university. The newspaper said that under Pennsylvania's sunshine law, private corporations that are "performing a governmental function" under contract to a public agency fall under the provisions of the act.[7]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Republican Herald, "Norwegian Township 1st in state to appeal open records ruling", April 2, 2009
- ↑ Office of Open Records mission statement
- ↑ IStockAnalyst, "York Twp. Board to Appeal Open Records Ruling", September 11, 2009
- ↑ Audio of public meetings ruled public records, February 22, 2009
- ↑ Morning Call, Northampton Area's budget figures didn't have to be released, ruling says, April 3, 2009
- ↑ Philadelphia Inquirier, "School board action brings open-records dispute", April 4, 2009
- ↑ Pocono Record, "Partial victory on access to ESU records", April 17, 2009
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