Providing highlights and insights about the PA Right to Know Law and decisions of the Office of Open Records as well as court opinions
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…
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…
The Office of Open Records (“OOR”) recently issued a decision in which it denied a request for unredacted invoices of an attorney for a school district based on the attorney-client privilege. In the matter of Campbell v. Pennsbury School District, PA OOR, Docket No.: AP 2018-2171 (Feb. 14, 2019), the OOR upheld a decision of…