From the PNA Legal Hotline

By Melissa Melewsky, Media Law Counsel
Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association

Q: Does the Right to Know Law require agencies to allow inspection of public records? I just want to look at meeting minutes, but the agency said I need to pay for copies.

A: The Right to Know Law requires agencies to make public records available for public inspection, and copies are not required.

Section 701 of the Right to Know Law requires public records to be made available for public inspection during the agency’s regular business hours. The law does not allow agencies to impose a fee for inspection of public records, although agencies can charge for copies if a record must be copied for redaction purposes.

With records such as meeting minutes, there should be no redaction and therefore no associated fees for public access when a member of the public wants to inspect the records. In fact, many agencies keep records such as meeting minutes readily available in the main office and on the agency’s website.

The law does allow an agency to impose a fee for paper copies, when copies are requested, and the Office of Open Records has set the per page fee at 25 cents per page. However, requesters often inspect records before deciding which, if any, records to copy. This practice can significantly reduce copy fees associated with public records requests.