Municipalities, Public Records, Right To Know

What a Municipality Should Know Before Saying “No Records Exist” When Responding to a Right-to-Know Law Request

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on 7/15/2025

Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law (“RTKL”) provides access to public records and promotes transparency in our Commonwealth. A record in the possession of a government agency is presumed to be public unless the record is...more

OOR Confirms that Local Agencies Can Provide Responsive Records in PDF Format

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on 10/18/2023

In Forrest v. Erie City, AP 2023-1701 (Sept. 28, 2023), Erie City responded to a request for a list of all rental properties registered and licensed in the City in an Excel spreadsheet by providing a PDF conversion of the...more

Understanding the Right to Know Law and Why Certain Documents May be Protected

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on 2/21/2022

You may notice water being diverted from a neighboring property onto your property. Or, perhaps you have concerns that the property located above yours seems to be shifting, and you fear a landslide....more

OOR Holds that Borough’s Use of Taser Policy is Partially Exempt

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on 7/24/2019

Last week, we discussed how the OOR concluded that, for the most part, Taser discharge reports are public records. This week, we’ll examine whether policies related to Tasers are public records. In Ciavaglia v. Newtown...more

OOR Holds that Zoning Permit Application is not Exempt under the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on 7/2/2019

The 30 exceptions set forth in Section 708(b) of RTKL are not an exhaustive list of records that can or must be withheld from disclosure under the RTKL. Instead, Section 102 of the RTKL contains a catch-all, stating that any...more

ORR Holds that the Investigative File of a Municipality’s Insurance Company is Not a Public Record

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on 6/10/2019

Under the RTKL, two groups of records are accessible—those records in an agency’s actual or constructive possession reached directly under Section 901 of the RTKL and records that are only in the possession of third parties...more

Pennsylvania Office of Open Records Updates RTKL Fee Schedule

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on 10/17/2018

Section 1307 of the Right-to-Know Law (“RTKL”) requires that the Office of Open Records (“OOR”) establish a fee schedule for Commonwealth agencies and local agencies that establishes the fees for duplication by photocopying,...more

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