Articles | Page 26 | Nauman Smith

Recent Office of Open Records Decisions: From Strip Searches to Donor Records

The OOR continues to refine its consideration of a potpourri of Right-to-Know issues and implements with those decisions several recent decisions of the Commonwealth Court. Strip Searches In a decision involving the City of Bethlehem, Dye v. City of Bethlehem, OOR Dkt. AP 2010-0510, the OOR granted in part and denied in part an individual’s request for policies and procedures relating to strip searches and documents and videos regarding such searches from 2000 to the present. … Read On

Convicted Sex Offender Denied Access to Parole Board’s Supervision Strategies Pursuant to Right-to-Know Law’s Public Safety Exemption

The Commonwealth Court has affirmed a decision by Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole (“Board”) to deny a convicted sex offender’s request for access to records which document the strategies the Board will use to supervise him after he is released from prison. Woods v. Office of Open Records, – – – A.2d –… Read On

Agencies are Bound by Reasons Stated in Initial Denial of RTKL Requests

In an opinion released today, the Commonwealth Court held that an agency which denies a request for records under the new Right-to-Know Law is bound by the reasons the agency states in the initial denial letter to the requester. An agency is prohibited from asserting a different legal ground to support the denial after the requester appeals to the Office of Open Records… Read On

Municipalities Struggle to Deal with Aged and Deteriorating Infrastructure

Municipalities across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are struggling to address the pressing need to replace and upgrade their aged infrastructure. The challenge is particularly acute in older municipalities and rural areas where infrastructure such as sanitary sewer and water treatment facilities have exceeded their useful life or are non-existent. On February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“ARRA”) in order to provide for… Read On

How should an Open Records Officer deal with a request for third party documents?

Around the state, Open Records Officers (“ORO”) are receiving requests for third party documents. For example, a competitor of a home contractor filed a request for blueprints that were submitted to a township through a building permit application. See Maller v. West Manheim Township, AP 2009-0498 (OOR, July 17, 2009). These types of requests are the result of provisions of the new Right-to-Know Law (“RTKL”) which are designed to increase the transparency of government operations… Read On

The Effects of Pennsylvania’s New Right-to-Know Law on the Business Community – What You Don’t Know Will Hurt You

On February 14, 2008, Governor Rendell signed into law Pennsylvania’s new Right-to-Know Law resulting in the most extensive revisions to the open records law in 50 years. Unfortunately, the Act and its effects remain largely unknown and unexplored by the business community in Pennsylvania. This article will address the major changes brought about by the new Act… Read On

Dealing with Unrelated Business Income and Intermediate Sactions

By definition, tax-exempt organizations do not pay federal income tax on donations received and revenues generated by activities related to the performance of their exempt functions. However..… Read On

The Non-Traditional Family

Calling the decision “a victory for nontraditional families,” Attorney Suzanne Friday says Dauphin County Judge Todd Hoover’s February ruling that two women in a long-term committed relationship were the legal parents of twins prior to their birth is the first of its kind in central Pennsylvania. Friday practices with Nauman, Smith, Shissler & Hall, LLP, Harrisburg… Read On

Court Forces Turnover in Paterno Salary Case

Please download the file below to read the article… Read On

Navigating Provider Protections for Quality of Care Reports

Peer Review Statutes to Common Law Privileges, Hospitals & Health Systems, American Health Lawyers, June 2007… Read On

Open Records Law Puts Onus on Agencies

HARRISBURG — Four months, $100 worth of long-distance phone calls, meetings with an attorney and, finally, the intervention of then-House Speaker John Perzel’s office. That’s what it took for Maya Patch to obtain copies of her local sewer authority’s spending records a few years ago. “I wanted to see the books. I wanted to know about monies being spent… Read On

PHEAA Told to Pay Attorney Fees for Media in Records-Access Case

Saying the state’s student loan agency behaved with “wanton disregard” in refusing to release records to The Patriot-News and two other media organizations, a judge has ordered the agency to cover almost $50,000 in media attorney fees. Commonwealth Court Judge Doris Smith-Ribner said the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency “unquestionably behaved willfully and with wanton disregard”… Read On