Right to Know Law
NEWS ON OPEN GOVERNMENT ISSUES

SWB Yankees appeals ruling to Supreme Court

August 25, 2010 |
The management company for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees has appealed to the state Supreme Court a ruling that ordered it to make public its records on concessions. SWB Yankees LLC wants the state's highest court to overturn a Commonwealth Court ruling that found the Right to Know Law applies to a company contracted to manage the publicly owned baseball team. Read More...

County court employee e-mails exempt from Right to Know Law

August 24, 2010 |
A decision by the Commonwealth Court to make e-mails of employees of court offices exempt from the Right to Know Law is broad in the eyes of open records experts and the state Office of Open Records - but they say it shouldn't stop people from making requests. Read More...

Judge bars release of county official's e-mails

August 13, 2010 |
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania courts' broad exemption from the Right-to-Know Law shields judicial records from public scrutiny even when they are in the hands of agencies that are subject to the law, a three-judge panel of the state Commonwealth Court has ruled. Read More...

Court ruling broadens open record exemption for courts

August 12, 2010 |
In a precedent-setting ruling handed down Wednesday by Commonwealth Court, records of ancillary offices to the state's court system have been found exempt from the 2009 Right to Know Law. Addressing whether The Times-Tribune and others were entitled to Lackawanna County records for its Department of Domestic Relations, the court ruled the county and state Office of Open Records were permanently barred from making the information public. Read More...

Superintendent locks down school salary data

August 11, 2010 |
Days after a Daily News columnist wrote about the high salaries of School District Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman and several of her top deputies - with salaries higher than those of Mayor Nutter and Gov. Rendell - Ackerman moved to limit the number of district employees able to access the district's payroll system. Read More...

South Mountain forestry study details types, number, conditions of trees

August 05, 2010 |
Allentown's portion of South Mountain has trees, plenty of them -- more than 1,000 yellow poplars and black oaks, and even a few black cherry. While this may not be a surprise, the administration of Mayor Ed Pawlowski has filed a petition in court to keep a tree inventory and other details about South Mountain out of the public domain. Read More...

Opinion: Secrecy in age of information

July 26, 2010 |
Most public officials in 2010 would blush at acknowledging that staff members do not know how to use e-mail or electronically transfer data. But not Wyoming County Recorder of Deeds Dennis Montross. He thinks his staff's alleged technological ignorance is a valid excuse to maintain the secrecy of public records. Read More...

Yankees lose appeal in open records case brought by Times Tribune

July 23, 2010 |
A state appeals court has ruled against the SWB Yankees LLC - the management group for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees and PNC Field - in its attempt to block The Times-Tribune from obtaining the paperwork concerning how bids were awarded at the Lackawanna County Multi-Purpose Stadium in Moosic.
Read More...

University lodges appeal to keep foundation records private

July 16, 2010 |
A Pennsylvania state university and its nonprofit fundraising foundation have asked the state’s high court to hear an appeal in a case over whether the foundation, which is staffed by public employees, is subject to state public records laws. Read More...

Pa. State Police ordered to release work records

July 16, 2010 |
Pennsylvania's Office of Open Records has ordered the release of documents detailing the moonlighting done by state troopers to the Tribune-Review and the Associated Press. Read More...

Pa. state police ordered to disclose moonlighting

July 15, 2010 |
HARRISBURG (AP) — The Pennsylvania State Police must release most of its records about work that its employees perform while they are off-duty, the state Office of Open Records has ruled. The office concluded in Wednesday's decision that the state police erred in withholding information about employee moonlighting in response to a right-to-know request filed in April by The Associated Press. Read More...

ESU appeals court's open-records ruling

July 14, 2010 |
East Stroudsburg University and its foundation have asked the state's highest court to reverse an appellate court ruling that would force the foundation to turn over records to the Pocono Record. In the latest turn in an ongoing legal battle, ESU and the private ESU Foundation, which raises money for the university, filed an appeal in the Middle District of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, arguing that a unanimous decision of a full panel of judges of the Commonwealth Court in May should not be allowed to stand because it is overbroad and intrusive. Read More...

Opinion: Taxpayers have a right to know

July 12, 2010 |
This newspaper applauded state Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-9, of Chester, when he advanced the cause of open government by sponsoring the Open Records Act of 2009, but the struggle for public access continues. Commonwealth Court issued decisions this month interpreting the amended Right to Know Law.
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Penn State to revise its Right-to-Know filing

June 08, 2010 |
Penn State University said today it plans to submit a revised Right-to-Know report to the state on Friday that will include salaries of two employees left off of the university's initial filing last month. Read More...

Court case might set precedent on open records

June 07, 2010 |
A landmark decision by the Commonwealth Court that helps define the term "governmental function" in the Right to Know Law could change the way local governments and their vendors do business. It could also impact the outcome of three cases involving vendor records related to Lackawanna County government. Read More...

Commonwealth Court issues significant Right to Know opinions

May 28, 2010 |
Last week was a significant one for access issues, with the Commonwealth Court issuing four decisions interpreting the amended Right to Know Law. Read More...

State court: ESU must open records

May 25, 2010 |
Donor records relating to scholarships and a signature East Stroudsburg University building must be made available to the Pocono Record, a state court ruled Monday in the most recent turn in a 15-month-long legal battle. In a precedent-setting decision, the Commonwealth Court ruled 7-0 to uphold the substance of a previous ruling by the state's open records agency. Read More...

Opinion: Thumbing noses at Right to Know

May 16, 2010 |
Pennsylvania may have a new Right to Know Law, but it is becoming increasingly apparent that many bureaucrats and elected officials have no intention of following it. Read More...

Lower Windsor Twp. changes policy, increases public access

May 14, 2010 |
Lower Windsor Township changed a policy and will let people see drafts, ordinances and other documents before the supervisors act on them, as long as the information isn't privileged. On Thursday, supervisors unanimously voted for the change, saying they wanted to be open with the public about information. Read More...

Opinion: Close open records loophole

May 14, 2010 |
Sometimes, a final decision isn't exactly final. That's the case with Pennsylvania's revamped open records law. The law, intended to grant the public greater and easier access to public documents, allows government bodies to appeal decisions — called final determinations — by the state Office of Open Records. And sometimes that results in records remaining closed because petitioners cannot afford to hire lawyers to defend appeals. Read More...

Release all expenses incurred by district officials

May 05, 2010 |
If Wyomissing School Board members are so concerned about informing the public how much it costs the district to gather information under the Pennsylvania Right to Know Act, perhaps they should include themselves on the list of who requested information, what information was sought, the time it took to fulfill the requests and how much that cost the district. Read More...

Wyomissing School Board publishing names, costs in Right-to-Know requests

April 27, 2010 |
The Wyomissing School District has begun to publish the names of people who request information from the district under the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law. Read More...

Opinion: Citizens, not reporters, got new law's access

April 26, 2010 |
Back in 2008, when the Pennsylvania Legislature was considering changes to strengthen Pennsylvania's open records law, we offered the opinion that a stronger law would be of far more benefit to ordinary Pennsylvanians than it would be to newspapers, although newspapers were among the strongest supporters of the new law. Read More...

Lackawanna County stadium naming contract must be made public, state says

April 20, 2010 |
A naming-rights agreement for the county-owned baseball stadium is public record and must be turned over to The Times-Tribune, the state Office of Open Records has ruled. Read More...

NCC forum discusses new Right to Know law, open records

April 14, 2010 |
For more than 50 years, Pennsylvania's public agencies could deny residents access to public records without explaining why residents couldn't have access. The state's new Right to Know law, enacted Jan. 1, 2009, puts the burden on agencies to prove why records are exempt.

At a Tuesday night forum at Northampton Community College's Tannersville campus, the public got a better sense of this new law. The forum was sponsored by the Pocono Record and NCC. Read More...

Panel provides insight into Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law

April 09, 2010 |
Four panelists gave insight on the first year of the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law during a symposium in the HUB Ohio room at 7 p.m. March 31. The event came after Sunshine Week, which celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Right to Know Law, which is a type of Sunshine law, meant to give open access to public documents.
Read More...

Opinion: OOR can't order payment of legal fees

April 08, 2010 |
Q: I recently filed an appeal with the Office of Open Records. The agency has asked the Office of Open Records to order me or my newspaper to pay the agency’s legal fees related to the appeal. The agency argues that my request is “frivolous” because I requested the same record under the old law and was denied. Can the Office of Open Records order me to pay the agency’s legal fees resulting from the OOR appeal? Read More...

Opinion: Open records still a work in progress

March 18, 2010 |
It’s a pretty good law. But having a good law and having a universally good “open government” attitude across the state are two different things. Pennsylvania’s new “Right to Know Law” took effect Jan. 1, 2009, more than a year ago. Has it been successful? It depends whom you ask and how you measure success when it comes to citizens being able to keep track of what their government is doing.
Read More...

Opinion: Citizens have duty to monitor government

March 14, 2010 |
Today marks the beginning of Sunshine Week, a celebration of open government — and an exhortation to demand it ceaselessly. Open government is a core principle of our American form of democracy. Government employees — both elected officials and non-elected workers — are directly accountable to the people. In a citizens' government, citizens and the press are the watchdogs, making sure officials remain accountable to the people. Keeping access open to officials and to public documents is essential if citizens are to maintain their freedom.
Read More...

Pennsylvanians have better access to their government — but there's room to improve

March 14, 2010 |
It's been more than a year since Pennsylvania enacted its new Right-to-Know law, but experts say it's going to be years before it gets perfected. Case law and trial-and-error still are taking place across the state when citizens ask for — and expect to receive — government records they believe to be accessible to the public. While officials familiar with the law admit there is room to improve it, everyone agrees on one thing — Pennsylvania is more open than it was before the Right-to-Know changes.
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Opinion: Coroner rulings are a matter of public record

March 02, 2010 |
Just over a year old, Pennsylvania's Right to Know Law remains a work in progress. That fact is clearly evident through a court case brought by our colleagues at WGAL-TV. In what should be a clear-cut situation, the television station has been forced to go to the Commonwealth Court in an effort to determine not if a record is public - on that point everyone agrees - but when it should be released.
Read More...

Ex-official: Show me the money

March 01, 2010 |
In light of recent accusations about undue political influence in Montgomery County government, a former county official has asked the Board of Elections for details about the commissioners’ campaign finance spending over the past two years. Read More...

Opinion: Clean Streams Act makes DEP records public

February 25, 2010 |
Q: I want to look at applications filed with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Can the DEP deny my request? Read More...

Montgomery County requests more time

February 24, 2010 |
Montgomery County has stated it will require another month to provide the county’s professional services contracts and related documents requested earlier this month by The Times Herald. Read More...

Dad seeks to block report in son's death

February 17, 2010 |
A new legal battle could be brewing over a Shippensburg University student's death that already has prompted a court duel over the state's Right to Know Law. Read More...

Yankees file brief in court fight with The Times-Tribune over concessionaire bid records

January 29, 2010 |
The management group for the Lackawanna County-owned Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees argues a judge erred in a case that will decide whether concessionaire bids for the baseball team and stadium are public records. Read More...

Ruling: County must make prison receipts public

January 13, 2010 |
Lackawanna County must obtain and provide to The Times-Tribune any receipts and invoices related to the cost of medical care at Lackawanna County Prison between November 2004 and November 2009, the state Office of Open Records has ruled. Read More...

Opinion: Agency can't take additional extension

January 07, 2010 |
Q: An agency requested an additional 30 calendar days in which to respond to my Right to Know Law request. On the 30th day, I received a letter stating that the records are public but the agency will take an additional three months to compile and copy them due to staffing limitations. Can the agency extend their time for response like that? Read More...

Open records ruling goes against county

January 03, 2010 |
Ben Vonderheide spends a lot of time at the Lancaster County Courthouse, pursuing fathers' rights and inconveniencing local officials in the process. As such, Vonderheide said, he's been tossed out of many a county office and courtroom. But his ejection from one courtroom this fall prompted him to request copies of the surveillance tapes for his records. The county refused to provide the tapes, saying it would constitute a security breach. The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records disagreed. In a Christmas Eve ruling, appeals officer Lucinda Glinn ordered the county to turn them over to Vonderheide. Read More...