PaFOICPennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Right to Know Requests" link on home page. Open records email link provided on page; other open records officer contact information found on form and in policy.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Open Records" link prominent on home page. Thorough presentation of RTK information.

1, 2, 3 | Right-To-Know link under "County News" on home page. No regulations or policies posted, but helpful information about commonly requested documents.

1, 2, 3 | "Open Records Act Requests" page linked off Information Services on home page. "Policy" document PDF consists of contact information, but no policies.

NOTE: No Right to Know information found.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Berks County Open Records" link on home page. Office of Open Records contact information in policy PDF

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Right to Know" link prominent on home page

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Open Government" link prominent on home page. Good and complete information.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Open Records Office" link on home page. Good and complete information.

1, 2, 3 | "Open Records" link on home page, but not easy to see. No regulations or procedures; link to the Office of Open Records website.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Open Records" link on home page. Complete information in policy PDF.

NOTE: No Right to Know information found.

1, 3 | Open records officer information and form on home page.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Open Records Law" page hard to find under "Services" link. Full policy posted. Office addresses for specific types of records provided, but no open records officer information. Out-of-date request form wrongly asks if requester is Pennsylvania resident and asks requester to describe records requested using old law's definition of public record. Link to state Office of Open Records, but no contact information.

1, 2, 4 | "PA Open Records Law" link on home page. No form available. Link to state Office of Open Records says "visit their website for guidelines and forms."

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Open Records Office" link on County Government home page. Only policy provided is standard fee structure. Link to state Office of Open Records, but no contact information.

1 | "Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Act" link under General Information menu on home page. Right to Know Act page deals almost exclusively with access to judicial records. Form provided is for judicial records. No Right to Know information or form for local agency records. Page states $7/15 min. fee for redaction/retrieval of records, which is not permitted per state Office of Open Records directive.

NOTE: No Right to Know information found. There is a "Web Access" link which notes a fee-based service for accessing assessment, prothonotary and register and record documents online.

NOTE: No Right to Know information found.

1, 2, 3 | "Open Records" link on home page. Only names, some email links, for open records officers. Links to county fees and policies go to blank pages. Online county records request form. Links to state Office of Open Records pages and information.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Open Records Office" link under Commissioners menu on home page. Good contact information for open records officer, but Right to Know policy and forms links are in an odd spot not visually connected with the other information, and hard to find. County also has Public Records archive online.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Open Records" link on "About the County" page, linked from home page. Link to state Office of Open Records website, no contact information.

1, 3, 4 | "Open Records" link in Departments menu on home page. Posted Open Records policy outdated: Although it was amended Sept. 9, 2008, after the new Right to Know Law was passed, it calls for the county to have its own "Open Records Exception Official" to issue final determinations on appeals. The policy makes no mention of the state Office of Open Records, which has sole authority to issue final determinations on local agency appeals under the new law.

NOTE: No Right to Know information found.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Open Record Policy" link on home page. All required information provided.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Public Records" link on home page. Must click further to get to Right to Know Law information. Link to state Office of Open Records information and pages.

1, 3, 4 | "Open Records Information" link on home page. Open Record Policy PDF mentions state Office of Open Records will hear appeals, but provides no contact information. No OOR links on site.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Open Records Policy" in "County Quick Clicks" menu on home page. State Office of Open Records contact information on policy PDF.

1, 4 | Tiny "Open records policy" link at very bottom of home page. Although Open Records Policy page mentions Act 3 of 2008, appeals process information is outdated and wrong, stating that appeals are to be heard by the county commissioners. The policy makes no mention of the state Office of Open Records, which has sole authority to issue final determinations on local agency appeals under the new law. No form.

NOTE: No Right to Know information found. A search of the site for "open records" uncovers a Dec. 10, 2008, newsletter that mentions the appointment of the chief clerk as the open records officer, and provides a phone number. The chief clerk's page has contact information, but no Right to Know information.

1, 2, 3 | "Open Records Request" link on home page. Other than open records officer contact information, all Right to Know information consists of links to the state Office of Open Records website.

1, 2, 4 | "Indiana's New Right to Know Policy" link on home page opens a PDF which is the source of all Right to Know Law information on the site. Open records office contact information is contained within the policy document, as is the address of the state Office of Open Records. No request form provided.

NOTE: No Jefferson County government website found. [Link is to Jefferson County Department of Development]

3, 4 | A "Juniata County Right to Know Policy" section near the bottom of the home page contains links to a request form and a PDF of the county's Right to Know Policy, which is the source of all Right to Know Law information on the website. The policy document contains mailing addresses for record keepers at various agencies, but does not name an open-records officer, and no phone numbers, fax numbers or email addresses are given. The policy document mentions the state Office of Open Records, but provides no contact information or links.

1, 2, 3, 4 | PDFs of Right to Know Act Policy and Right to Know Request Form are hard to find. (From home page, must click on Departments/Agencies, then go to Board of Commissioners page, which contains links to Right to Know PDFs.) The Right to Know forms are also linked from Communications Office page, although requests aren't handled by that office. Request form is not included on County Forms page. Single-page Right to Know Act Policy document contains contact information for the county's open records officer and state Office of Open Records.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Open Records/Right to Know" link on home page. All required information is available, although scattered over a number of pages for no apparent reason.

3, 4 | Small "Right to Know Request Form" link on home page goes to Right to Know Policy, subsequent link to form. The policy states that the County Administrator is designated open records officer, but provides no contact information. The policy mentions the state Office of Open Reords, but provides no contact information or links.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Right to Know Information" link on home page. All required information provided. State Office of Open Records contact information contained in policy document.

1, 3, 4 | "Right to Know" link drops down from "Contact Us" menu. Policy information is bare-bones. No contact information or links for the state Office of Open Records.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Right-To-Know Law" link on home page. All required information available on Right to Know page and in Right-To-Know Policy PDF. Link provided to state Office of Open Records website.

3, 4 | "Right to Know Policy" link on home page, links to a PDF of county policy. Request form at end of policy document. Policy states that the chief clerk is the open records officer but does not provide contact information. State Office of Open Records mentioned, but no contact information or links provided.

NOTE: No Right to Know information found.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Open Records Office" link on home page. Although county's Right to Know Policy references the new Right to Know Law, effective Jan. 1, 2009, its appeals process information is outdated and wrong, stating that appeals are to be heard by the county commissioners. The policy makes no mention of the state Office of Open Records, which has sole authority to issue final determinations on local agency appeals under the new law. However, information from the state Office of Open Records is on the county's website, as is a link to the state OOR website.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "2009 Right to Know" link on home page. County's Right to Know policy PDF includes open-records officer contact information, state Office of Open Records information, form and policy.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Open Records" icon on home page. "Open Records/Right to Know" page contains basic information, with link to state Office of Open Records and its Citizen Guide.

1, 2, 3, 4 | A small "Open Records" link is on the home page. Although the county's posted "Open Records Regulations and Procedures" state they were adopted in November 2008 in conjunction with the new Right to Know Law, outdated information regarding requester "exceptions" to be appealed to the county remains in the document. A note at the top of the first page mentions that this outdated information has been "bracketed" to indicate it has been superceded. However, no updated information about filing appeals to the state Office of Open Records is provided. The policy document needs to be rewritten to remove the bracketed material and provide correct information on the appeals process.

NOTE: No Right to Know information found.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Right to Know Act" link on home page. Right to Know page contains all required information.

NOTE: No Right to Know information found.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Open Records Policy" link on home page. Open Records Policy page contains link to download a request form, and link to a policy document, which contains open records officer information and address of the state Office of Open Records.

1, 4 | "Right to Know Policy" link at bottom of home page. Open Records Policy PDF posted, containing open records officer contact information and policies. No request form found. The policy document contains a link to the state Office of Open Records, and mentions that the state publishes a request form on its site.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Open Records and Right to Know" link on home page. Right to Know Policy PDF contains open records officer contact information, policy and form. Policy does not provide contact information for state Office of Open Records, but link is provided on home page.

1, 2 | "Open Records" link on bottom of home page. A brief "Public Notice" about the law is posted, which refers to the Office of Open Records site for details. A copy of the OOR's "How to File An Appeal" document is posted. No request form posted.

1, 3, 4 | "Right to Know Policy" link located on Policies page located in General Information menu on home page. Policy document includes open records officer information and policy information. Contact information for the state Office of Open Records is included, but buried. A "Right to Know Act Request Form" link is posted elsewhere, in General Information menu on home page.

NOTE: No Right to Know information found.

1, 2, 3 | Open Records page hard to find: Linked at bottom of Commissioners page, under General menu on home page. Bare-bones information includes open records officer mailing address and fax number, no phone number or email. Downloadable request form. Link to state Office of Open Reords website, but no contact information. No policy or procedures posted.

NOTE: No Right to Know information found.

1, 3 | Right-to-Know Law link at top of home page along with Open Records Policy Officer phone number. Right to Know page contains request form and address to submit it to, presumably that of the open records officer. No policy or procedures, no mention of state Office of Open Records.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Right to Know Policy" link on home page. All required information provided.

NOTE: No Right to Know information found. A "Public Records" page under Government Offices provides information only about deed and tax assessment records.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Right to Know" link on home page. All required information provided.

3 | Right to Know Request Form in Forms menu on home page. NOTE: No other Right to Know information found ... including the address where someone is supposed to send the request form.

1, 2, 3 | "Public Records" link in General Information menu on home page. Link to state Office of Open Records website and FAQs. No policy or procedures.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Open Records" link in County Links menu on home page. All required information provided.

1, 2, 3, 4 | "Open Records Requests" link on home page. All required information provided, including a FAQ page.

NOTE: No Right to Know information found. [When checked 5/1/10, the county website was found as a sub-page of the Adams County site, with a note saying it was be reconstructed.]

1, 3, 4 | "County of York Open Records" link on home page. County open records officer contact information on policy document. Policy document mentions state Office of Open Records, but provides no contact information.