Office of Open Records

Highlights from the OOR’s 2015 Annual Report

/ Liz Wagenseller / Leave a comment

Today is the first day of Sunshine Week, and the Office of Open Records has traditionally released its Annual Report during Sunshine Week.

The OOR’s Annual Report for 2015 is available here. (Previous reports can be downloaded here.)

Some highlights from 2015 include:

  • 2,926 appeals filed last year, a record total.
  • 1,794 appeals involving local agencies vs. 1,132 involving state agencies.
  • For the first time, the Annual Report provides a county-by-county looks at local agency appeals.
  • 5 of the top appellate court decisions involving the RTKL.
  • 10 examples of records accessed via the RTKL.
  • 54 training sessions conducted across the state for about 1,500 people.
  • A look at what the OOR might face in the future.

Sunshine Week is a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. As part of Sunshine Week, I’ll be analyzing some of the data in the OOR Annual Report, along with some data that didn’t make the final report — and more — right here on our blog and also on our Twitter feeds:

House Appropriations Committee Testimony

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Earlier this afternoon, I testified in front of the House Appropriations Committee regarding the Office of Open Records’ budget request for Fiscal Year 2015-16. Here’s the full text of my opening comments.

House Appropriations Committee
The Honorable William F. Adolph, Jr., Chair
February 22, 2016

Testimony of Erik Arneson
Executive Director, Office of Open Records
www.openrecords.pa.gov

Thank you, Chairman Adolph, Chairman Markosek, and members of the House Appropriations Committee. Good afternoon. It’s an honor to appear before this committee as Executive Director of the Office of Open Records. Chairman Adolph, on a personal note, I’m particularly pleased to have an opportunity to appear in front of you.

I have just a few comments, and then I’ll be very happy to answer any questions.

As I sit before you today, the Office of Open Records has decided nearly 14,000 appeals under the Right-to-Know Law. Last year, the OOR received a record number of appeals – 2,926. We have 10 attorneys who handle appeals. Do the math, and that’s an incredible caseload – nearly 300 appeals per attorney last year. And the OOR only has 30 days to decide each appeal, unless the requester grants us more time.

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OOR Budget Proposal for FY 2016-17

/ Liz Wagenseller / Leave a comment

Earlier this week, Governor Tom Wolf unveiled his budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2016-17. For the Office of Open Records, his proposal includes $2.916 million.

That level of funding will allow the OOR to carry out all of its statutorily mandated duties in an effective and efficient manner, including an increase in training courses across the state, a significant expansion of our successful mediation program, additional hearings in complicated cases, and new outreach efforts such as creating online training resources.

I look forward to testifying before the House Appropriations Committee on Monday, February 22, regarding this proposal. (I’ll also post my testimony to this blog.)

A Few Words About OOR Hearings

/ Liz Wagenseller / Leave a comment

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.

January 2016 – 122 Appeals Filed

/ Liz Wagenseller / Leave a comment

A total of 122 appeals were filed in January. That’s far below the 239 filed in December (which set a record for December) or the 353 filed in October (our all-time single month record) — but it’s right in line with the average number of appeals filed in January. (From 2009 through 2015, an average of 124.6 appeals were filed in January.)

It’s far too early to know what the year ahead holds, of course, but January tends to be a low-volume month. From 2009 to 2015, fewer appeals were filed in January than any other month. (February was only slightly higher; the numbers go up significantly in March through December.)

It’s hard to say why this is, but my working theory is that it relates to the holiday season — if fewer requests are filed in late November through early January, it would make logical sense that the OOR would receive fewer appeals in January and February.

December 2015 – Busiest December Ever

/ Liz Wagenseller / Leave a comment

The Office of Open Records saw record-setting levels of appeals filed throughout 2015, and December was no exception. 239 appeals were filed in December — more than were filed in any previous December.

The OOR received a total of 2,926 appeals in 2015. That’s 448 more appeals than were received in 2013, the previous record. Here’s an updated look at how many appeals have been received by the OOR each year:

  • 2015: 2,926
  • 2014: 2,016
  • 2013: 2,478
  • 2012: 2,188
  • 2011: 1,772
  • 2010: 1,228
  • 2009: 1,155

I’ve started working on the OOR’s 2015 Annual Report, which I expect to include a lot more statistics. If there’s anything specific you’d like me to try and include in the annual report, let me know. Post a comment below or on Twitter (@ErikOpenRecords or @OpenRecordsPA), or send an email to openrecords@pa.gov.

Requesters: Keep a Copy of Your Request

/ Liz Wagenseller / Leave a comment

When you submit a request under Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law, it’s very important that you keep a copy of the request. (An electronic copy is fine.)

This is important because if you’re denied access to records and decide to file an appeal with the Office of Open Records, you’ll need to provide four things:

  • A copy of the Right-to-Know request;
  • A copy of the Agency’s response (unless the request was “deemed denied,” meaning the Agency didn’t respond at all);
  • A written statement explaining the grounds on which the requester asserts that the record is a public record; and
  • A written statement addressing any grounds stated by the agency for denying the request.

If the case is appealed beyond the OOR (to a Court of Common Pleas or to Commonwealth Court), the OOR is required to provide a certified copy of the full record, which must include all four of those items.

By the way, the best way to file an appeal with the OOR is to use our Appeal Form, which can be downloaded in PDF or Word format. We’ve designed the form to be as simple and user-friendly as possible.

A Look Back at 2015

/ Liz Wagenseller / 1 Comment

This blog debuted on June 25, 2015. Because I’m a total statistics geek, here’s a look at some of the site stats for 2015:

The Basics

  • 38 blog posts this year
  • 2,458 visitors this year
  • 5,437 pageviews this year

Most Popular Posts (Date Posted)

Top Months (Pageviews)

  • October (1,442)
  • November (1,208)
  • September (1,075)

Visitors’ Home Countries (Pageviews)

  • United States (5,324)
  • United Kingdom (9)
  • Russia (9)

A Few More Stats

  • Most Popular Day: Thursday (22% of pageviews)
  • Most Popular Hour: 1 p.m. (9% of pageviews)

2015 Busiest Year Ever for OOR

/ Liz Wagenseller / Leave a comment

2015 is now officially the busiest year on record at the Office of Open Records.

With 219 appeals filed in November, the OOR has received a total of 2,687 appeals in 2015. That’s 209 more than were received in 2013, the previous record. And, of course, we still have a full month to go in 2015.

Here’s a look at how many appeals have been received by the OOR each year:

  • 2015: 2,687 (through the end of November)
  • 2014: 2,016
  • 2013: 2,478
  • 2012: 2,188
  • 2011: 1,772
  • 2010: 1,228
  • 2009: 1,155

Fewer than 10% of OOR Decisions Get Appealed

/ Liz Wagenseller / Leave a comment

A conversation on Twitter earlier today caused me to investigate (more accurately, caused me to ask someone in the office to investigate) how many Final Determinations issued by the Office of Open Records have been appealed to court.

OOR decisions involving state agencies can be appealed to Commonwealth Court. According to our figures, that’s happened 604 times since the law went into effect on Jan. 1, 2009.

OOR decisions involving local agencies can be appealed to the county Court of Common Pleas. Our figures indicate that’s happened 519 times.

As of today, the OOR has decided more than 13,000 appeals.

Thus, approximately 8.6 percent (1,123 out of 13,000) of the OOR’s decisions have been appealed to court.

Note: The numbers above are accurate to the best of our knowledge. Under the Right-to-Know Law, the OOR should be notified of any court appeal, but there have been instances where that hasn’t happened.