In the matter of Jared Kofsky and ABC News v Butler Township, OOR Docket No.: AP 2024-1982 (8/29/2024), various records were requested relating to the rally on July 13, 2024, involving the shooting of Donald Trump. Butler Township was required to produce some of the requested records, but others were exempt from disclosure or
Commentary
REQUEST UNDER THE RTKL DENIED WHERE THE REQUESTER DID NOT CONFIRM IDENTITY
By Liza Stagliano & Alexander MacMullan on
Posted in Commentary, Office of Open Records Decisions
In the matter of Frank Curry and Foiabuddy, OOR Docket No.: AP 2024-1311 (June 20, 2024), the OOR determined that the South Western School District did not have a duty to fulfill an online request seeking IT related information because the district could not confirm the requester was qualified. A “requester” is defined by…
Ammunition Bought by a Sheriff’s Office Was Not Exempt Under The RTKL
By Liza Stagliano on
Posted in Commentary, Office of Open Records Decisions
In the matter of Tom Lisi and LNP Media Group, OOR Docket No.: AP 2024-1269 (June 14, 2024), Lancaster County argued that the disclosure of the type and amount of ammunition bought by the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office would threaten individual security and public safety under 65 P.S. § 67.708(b)(1)(ii) and 65 P.S. § 67.708(b)(2). …
Court Bars Access to Privileged Communications Under RTKL
By Francis Pileggi on
Posted in Commentary
The Delaware County Court of Common Pleas recently affirmed a Determination of the Office of Open Records (OOR) to withhold documents that the court held were subject to the attorney/client privilege and the work-product doctrine. See Cortes v. Middletown Township, et al., 110 Delaware County Reports 35 (Jan. 25, 2023).
Brief Background Facts:…
OOR: Specificity of a RTKL Request May Be Determined From Context
By Francis Pileggi on
Posted in Commentary
This synopsis was prepared by Pennsylvania attorney Catherine Olanich Raymond.
The OOR issued a Final Determination recently, holding that a Request seeking election-related data does not necessarily need to state a time period from which records are being requested in order for the request to be sufficiently specific under Section 703 of the RTKL. Abby …
Legislature Redefines “Data” Used for Decision-Making About the COVID-19 Disaster Declaration as a “Public Record” Under The RTKL
By Francis Pileggi on
Posted in Commentary
This synopsis was prepared by Pennsylvania attorney Catherine Olanich Raymond.
On July 27, 2020, Act 77 of 2020 (“Act 77”) became law without Governor Wolf’s signature, and is codified as 71 P.S. §§ 720.301, et seq.
In a July 28, 2020 press release, Governor Wolf characterized Act 77 as clarifying “that various data and models…
Francis Pileggi Joins Lewis Brisbois as Managing Partner of New Delaware Office
By Francis Pileggi on
Posted in Commentary
Francis Pileggi, co-editor of this blog, recently accepted an offer to be the Managing Partner of the new Delaware office of the Lewis Brisbois firm, which has over 1,500 lawyers, in over 40 practice areas of the law, in over 50 offices. I’m very excited to share this exciting next chapter in my professional career.…
OOR Requires Disclosure of County Tax Assessment Data
By Francis Pileggi on
Posted in Commentary
The OOR recently ordered the County of Delaware to produce data requested regarding a new county-wide property assessment, even though the preliminary valuations for purposes of determining the new property taxes were only a preliminary step in the process. In Marcavage v. County of Delaware, OOR Docket No.: AP 2020-0457 (March 30, 2020), the…
Access to Public Records and Constitutional Rights
By Francis Pileggi on
Posted in Commentary
The United States Supreme Court, in McBurney v. Young, ruled that there is no federal constitutional right to public records, and the states have the discretion to limit access to public records to their own citizens. This decision and its impact on the right to obtain public records was explored in a recent article: Chad…
A How-To-Guide for PA RTK Law Requests
By Francis Pileggi on
Posted in Commentary
A recent article provides a how-to-guide for those who seek to obtain records pursuant to the PA Right to Know Law, with links to the OOR website. The topics include:
- The agency to whom the request should be submitted;
- The form of the written request;
- How to send it;
- Timetables involved;
- Appeal procedures.