On Monday, the Office of Open Records held a hearing in Pittsburgh on a case that involves video footage recorded by a camera in a holding cell at a local police department.

The RTKL authorizes the OOR’s Appeals Officers to “if necessary, hold hearings on a regional basis” (Section 1310(a)(5)). Although the OOR has historically held relatively few such hearings (and this was the first to be held outside of Harrisburg), I believe hearings will need to be more common in the months and years ahead.

As case law involving the Right-to-Know Law continues to develop, both through the OOR’s Final Determinations and court decisions, hearings provide a real opportunity to dig into the facts of cases that are more nuanced and complicated.