Bills for legal services are subject to disclosure under the Right-to-Know Law. Levy v. Senate, --- A.3d ---, 2011 WL 4625341 (Pa.Cmwlth.2011). The identities of clients and general descriptions of legal services (e.g., memo, telephone call, research) do not implicate the attorney-client privilege and are not subject to redaction. [more]
The Patriot News has reported that the Department of State ("Department") has denied an inmate's request to see a copy of the Pennsylvania Constitution. [more]
A bill has been introduced in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives that will exempt the names and home addresses of jurors from the Right-to-Know Law. [more]
The Commonwealth Court has affirmed the final determination of the OOR which directed the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) to disclose supplementary employment request forms which state troopers submit to PSP to obtain approval for off-duty employment. [more]
Reporter Dylan Purcell, on behalf of the Philadelphia Inquirer, asked the Pennsylvania Office of Administration ("OA") to provide him with a list of state employees and salaries. The OA granted the request, but only provided Purcell with the employees' years of birth, rather than a full birth date including the day and month born. Purcell appealed to the Office of Open Records ("OOR"), arguing that the dates of birth of state employees are public records. [more]
On November 16, 2010, a three judge panel of the Commonwealth Court held that the Right-to-Know Law (RTKL) does not provide immediate access to the name of a deceased and the manner of death. [more]
On November 4, 2010, the Commonwealth Court in its decision, State Employees' Retirement System v. Office of Open Records, No. 152 C.D. 2010, by Senior Judge Flaherty, denied a claim by SERS for labor charges in complying with a Right-to-Know request as a cost "necessarily incurred" under 65 P.S. Section 67.1307(g). [more]
One of the most fiercely contested issues arising after the 2008 revision of Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law is whether home addresses of public employees are public records. Last year, the Pennsylvania State Education Association ("PSEA") petitioned the Commonwealth Court to enjoin the Officer of Open Records ("OOR") from ordering school districts to disclose home addresses of public school teachers. [more]
There is a proposed amendment to the Juvenile Rules of Procedure regarding access to juvenile probation files. Juvenile probation files will be defined as records contained in the official juvenile court record, including but not limited to social studies, school records, health, psychological and psychiatric evaluations, drug and alcohol testing, placement reports, employment records, and probation evaluations. [more]
Where an agency initially states that a request is insufficiently specific, courts may permit the agency to raise issues not preserved in the denial letter. [more]
