This synopsis was prepared by Pennsylvania attorney Catherine Olanich Raymond.
Within six weeks of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in Easton Area School District v. Miller, 13 MAP 2019, 2020 Pa. LEXIS 3378 (“Easton”), the OOR was required to apply the Easton holding to a school bus video request. That holding is the
Email communications among Council Members and the Borough Manager of Lewistown were required to be produced, pursuant to a recent decision from the Office of Open Records in the matter styled Maguire v. Lewistown Borough, OOR Docket No. AP 2020-0260 (April 20, 2020).
Basic Facts
The Final Determination of the OOR in this matter followed
A recent Final Determination from the Office of Open Records (“OOR”) prohibited the disclosure of the names and addresses of licensees in response to a request for dog license records in Mercer County. In the matter of Bush v. Mercer County, OOR Dkt. No. AP 2019-2211 (Dec. 30, 2019), the decision addressing the titular
Two recent Final Determinations of the OOR applied the Right to Privacy as a limitation on the Right to Know Law.
In Beatty v. Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, OOR Dkt. No. AP 2019-2482 (Jan. 9, 2020), the Pennsylvania Constitutional Right to Privacy was applied to prevent a state agency from providing home addresses. See PA
A recent Final Determination from the Office of Open Records clarified the RTKL’s statutory exemption that allows a state agency to deny a request to produce records related to a noncriminal investigation.
In Aponte v. Pottstown School District, OOR Dkt. AP 2019-2055 (Dec. 30, 2019), the Requester sought records related to investigative complaints, findings
A recent decision of the Office of Open Records (OOR) is noteworthy for the extensive analysis supporting its conclusion that the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) must produce a substantial number of the records requested regarding submissions to the PUC in connection with a pipeline. In Friedman v. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, OOR Dkt.
A recent decision from the Office of Open Records relied on the right to privacy in the Pennsylvania Constitution, as opposed to an exemption in the RTKL, as a basis to prevent the disclosure of certain personal information. In Petusky v. Girardville Area Municipal Authority, OOR Docket No. AP 2019-0931 (Aug. 26, 2019), the
The Commonwealth Court recently decided an issue of first impression and ruled that the term “individual” in Section 708(b)(13) of the RTKL does not include “corporations.” In the case styled, California University of Pennsylvania v. Bradshaw, 210 A.3d 1134 (Pa. Cmwlth. May 31, 2019), the court upheld a final determination by the Office of Open
A recent decision by the Office of Open Records is notable for requiring disclosure of text messages among school board members sent during a school board meeting. In Hassler v. Tulpehocken Area School District, OOR Dkt. No. AP 2019-0455 (July 18, 2019), the Appeals Officer explained that whether the text exchange related to an agenda
A recent decision by the PA Office of Open Records (OOR) is noteworthy for its explanation of the good faith duty of agencies to search for responsive records. The case of Brady v. Borough of Wernersville, OOR, Docket No.: AP 2019-0453 (May 22, 2019), granted an appeal from the denial of requested documents by