From the PNA "Headlines & Deadlines" Newsletter
By Teri Henning, General Counsel
and Melissa Melewsky, Media Law Counsel
Pennsylvania Newspaper Association

Q: We requested and received cell phone records from a township in November of 2008. We recently received a letter from the township solicitor requesting that we return the cell phone records so that telephone numbers can be redacted in accordance with the new Right to Know Law and the recent Supreme Court case of Tribune Review Publishing v. Bodack. Do we have to return the cell phone records for redaction?

A: No, you are not required to return a public record under the new Right to Know Law or the Bodack case. Nor can a public agency require you to do so.

Section 708(b)(6) of the revised Right to Know Law allows agencies to redact certain personal identification information, including personal and cellular telephone numbers. It does not however, require an agency to do so. Likewise, the Bodack case, which was decided under the old Right to Know Law, held that agencies may redact telephone numbers from cell phone records. The holding does not require agencies to redact such numbers. Agencies have discretion to release telephone numbers if they so choose.

It is also important to note that the exemption for certain personal information under the new Right to Know Law, section 708(b)(6), only applies to specifically listed information, and does not allow redaction of business, agency, or other non-personal landline telephone numbers.