OOR 2020 Annual Training – Complete Video

19 November 202010 February 2021 / Liz Wagenseller / Leave a comment

The Office of Open Records held its 2020 annual training yesterday via Zoom.

Most years, our Annual Training only includes voices from the OOR. This year, the training focused on the impact of COVID-19 on the administration of Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law and Sunshine Act and we were joined by several extremely smart and knowledgeable people from outside the OOR. The complete lineup included:

Erik Arneson, OOR Executive Director
Charles Rees Brown, Esq., OOR Chief Counsel
Nathanael Byerly, Esq., OOR Deputy Director
Scott Coburn, Esq., PA State Association of Township Supervisors
Thomas Howell, Esq., PA Office of General Counsel Deputy General Counsel
Delene Lantz, Esq., OOR General Counsel
Melissa Melewsky, Esq., PA NewsMedia Association Media Law Counsel
George Spiess, OOR Chief of Outreach and Training

The complete video of the OOR’s 2020 Annual Training is available on the OOR YouTube channel (and below).

The PowerPoint presentation used during the training is available here:

OOR Annual Training – Nov. 18, 2020 (PPTX)
OOR Annual Training – Nov. 18, 2020 (PPTX)

Information about other OOR training sessions, including upcoming webinars, can be found on the OOR’s Training Calendar.

Presentation from Today’s OOR Annual Training

18 November 202010 February 2021 / Liz Wagenseller / Leave a comment

Earlier this afternoon, the Office of Open Records hosted its Annual Training on the RTKL and the Sunshine Act.

The PowerPoint presentation used during that session is available here:

OOR Annual Training – Nov. 18, 2020 (PPTX)
OOR Annual Training – Nov. 18, 2020 (PPTX)

We plan to provide the entire session on the OOR’s YouTube channel as soon as possible.

Information about other OOR training sessions, including upcoming webinars, can be found on the OOR’s Training Calendar.

OOR Annual Training: Today at 1:30 p.m.

18 November 202010 February 2021 / Liz Wagenseller / Leave a comment

The Office of Open Records is hosting its Annual Training today (Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020) at 1:30 p.m.

This year’s session will focus on how the pandemic has affected the Right-to-Know Law and the Sunshine Act.

Scheduled panelists include:

Erik Arneson, OOR Executive Director
Charles Rees Brown, Esq., OOR Chief Counsel
Nathanael Byerly, Esq., OOR Deputy Director
Scott Coburn, Esq., PA State Association of Township Supervisors
Thomas Howell, Esq., PA Office of General Counsel Deputy General Counsel
Michael F. Krimmel, Esq., Commonwealth Court Prothonotary
Delene Lantz, Esq., OOR General Counsel
Melissa Melewsky, Esq., PA NewsMedia Association Media Law Counsel
George Spiess, OOR Chief of Outreach and Training

You can get more details and register for the Annual Training here. Unfortunately, CLEs are not available this year.

We plan to record today’s Annual Training to make it available on the OOR’s YouTube channel.

Information about other OOR training sessions, including upcoming webinars, can be found on the OOR’s Training Calendar.

OOR Conducting Surveys About the COVID-19 Pandemic

10 November 202010 February 2021 / Liz Wagenseller / Leave a comment

The Office of Open Records is conducting two surveys about the administration of the Right-to-Know Law and the Sunshine Act during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We would love to have your input.

If you are an Agency Open Records Officer (AORO), please complete this 34-question survey.

If you are a requester (e.g., member of the public, reporter, etc.), please complete this 25-question survey.

Each survey should take about 10 minutes. The deadline to complete the surveys is Monday, Nov. 16, 2020.

The survey results will be discussed at the OOR’s Annual Training on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020, and will also be posted here on the Open Records in Pennsylvania blog. Note that all survey responses are records under the RTKL.

OOR 2020 Annual Training: Nov. 18 at 1:30 p.m.

10 November 202010 February 2021 / Liz Wagenseller / Leave a comment

The Office of Open Records is hosting its Annual Training on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020, at 1:30 p.m.

This year’s session will focus on how the pandemic has affected the Right-to-Know Law and the Sunshine Act. It’s scheduled to include representatives of the OOR, state agencies, local agencies, and the media. There will be plenty of time for questions and answers.

You can get more details and register for the Annual Training here. Unfortunately, CLEs are not available this year.

Information about other OOR training sessions, including upcoming webinars, can be found on the OOR’s Training Calendar.

OOR Reviewing RTKL Fee Schedule, Seeking Input

27 October 202010 February 2021 / Liz Wagenseller / Leave a comment

Section 1307 of the Right-To-Know Law requires the Office of Open Records to establish a RTKL Fee Schedule for Commonwealth agencies and local agencies. Section 1310 of the RTKL requires the OOR to review that fee schedule every other year.

The OOR last updated the fee schedule in October 2018. Today, our biannual review of the RTKL Fee Schedule officially begins for 2020.

We welcome your input. Please send all comments about the RTKL Fee Schedule to this email address:

FeeReviewOOR@pa.gov

The deadline to submit comments is Monday, November 30, 2020.

PUBLIC RECORD NOTICE: All comments submitted to the Office of Open Records will be public records and subject to public access with limited exceptions. If you do not want to include personal contact information in a publicly accessible record, please provide alternate contact information.

RTKL Webinar for Requesters

26 August 202010 February 2021 / Liz Wagenseller / Leave a comment

This morning, I hosted a webinar about the Right-to-Know Law designed for requesters, including members of the media and anyone interested in accessing government records in Pennsylvania.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Here’s the PowerPoint presentation I used: The Right-to-Know Law for Requesters

The OOR regularly hosts webinars and in-person training sessions about various topics related to the Right-to-Know Law and the Sunshine Act. Check our calendar for details, and feel free to request a specific training session.

Act 77 of 2020: Guidelines Published by the Office of Open Records

31 July 202010 February 2021 / Liz Wagenseller / 2 Comments

NOTE: These guidelines are also available as a PDF.

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has challenged public agencies across Pennsylvania to find a way to continue providing access to public records and public meetings during a time when many offices were physically closed and social distancing requirements prevented large gatherings.

Among the many lessons learned are that good communication, always essential in the Right-to-Know Law (“RTKL”) process, is even more necessary during a disaster declaration. Agencies should remember that transparency builds trust, especially in times of crisis. Likewise, requesters should consider whether a records request can wait and be made after the disaster declaration has ended. When a request is made, requesters should consider the circumstances and extend common courtesy and patience to the responding agency. Reasonableness is key. The RTKL works best as a collaborative effort rather than an adversarial process.

It is also useful to remember that the formal RTKL process is not required to request or provide access to records. Informal requests and responses can be more efficient because they come with fewer administrative requirements.

Act 77 of 2020 requires the Office of Open Records (“OOR”) to “publish guidelines for a Commonwealth agency specifying how the Commonwealth agency is required to respond to a request for records made during a disaster declaration when the Governor has ordered the Commonwealth agency to close the Commonwealth agency’s physical location.”

Those guidelines must be published “[n]o later than five days after the effective date of this section.” Accordingly, the following guidelines are hereby published by the OOR.

Continue reading →

Process for Writing Guidelines Pursuant to HB 2463

27 July 202010 February 2021 / Liz Wagenseller / Leave a comment

House Bill 2463, which will officially be assigned an act number soon, is now law.

This law requires the Office of Open Records to “publish guidelines for a Commonwealth agency specifying how the Commonwealth agency is required to respond to a request for records made during a disaster declaration when the Governor has ordered the Commonwealth agency to close the Commonwealth agency’s physical location.”

Those guidelines must be published “[n]o later than five days after the effective date of this section.”

The OOR plans to publish the guidelines on Friday, July 31.

Between now (Monday, July 27, at 9:30 a.m.) and Wednesday, July 29, at 1:00 p.m., the OOR is accepting public comment on the guidelines. Comments can be directed to the OOR via the contact page on our website or via email, openrecords@pa.gov.

Please note that all submitted comments will be public records.

Added on July 28, 2020: HB 2463 is now Act 77 of 2020.

Statement on House Bill 2463

25 July 202010 February 2021 / Liz Wagenseller / 1 Comment

The following is a statement from Erik Arneson, Executive Director of the Office of Open Records:

House Bill 2463 would require the Office of Open Records to “publish guidelines for a Commonwealth agency specifying how the Commonwealth agency is required to respond to a request for records made during a disaster declaration when the Governor has ordered the Commonwealth agency to close the Commonwealth agency’s physical location.”

If HB 2463 becomes law, any guidelines published by the OOR would protect the health and safety of agency employees.

Additionally, if HB 2463 becomes law, agencies would continue to be able to avail themselves of the existing exemptions in Section 708 of the Right-to-Know Law.

Finally, if HB 2463 becomes law, the OOR would be required to publish the guidelines described above within five days. The OOR is ready to meet that deadline.