[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners
of the Township of Penn as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 12-15-2008 by Res. No. 77-2008]
The words and phrases used in this policy shall
have the meanings given to them by 65 P.S. § 67.102, unless
the context clearly indicates otherwise.
It is the intent of the Township to declare
that all records are presumed to be public records unless the record
is exempt under Section 708 of the RTKL;[1] the record is privileged; or the record is exempt from
disclosure under any other federal or state law or regulation or judicial
order or decree. All public records are available for inspection and/or
duplication in accordance with the RTKL,[2] this policy and all applicable administrative regulations.
The Township recognizes that it is the Township's burden to prove
by preponderance of the evidence that the record is not a public record.
The Township's Manager is designated as the
Township's Open Records Officer and shall be responsible to:
A.
Receive requests submitted to the Township under the
RTKL.
B.
Direct requests to other appropriate persons within
the Township or to appropriate persons in another agency.
C.
Track the Township's progress in responding to requests.
D.
Issue interim and final responses under the RTKL.
E.
Upon receipt of a request for a public record or financial
record, the Open Records Officer shall:
(1)
Note the date of the receipt of a written request
on the written request.
(3)
Maintain an electronic or paper copy of a written
request, including all documents submitted with the request until
the request has been fulfilled. If the request is denied, the written
request shall be maintained for 30 days or, if an appeal is filed,
until a final determination is issued under Section 1101(b) of the
RTKL[2] or the appeal is deemed denied.
[2]
Editor's Note: See 65 P.S. § 67.1101(b).
(4)
Create a log of all requests which shall include the
date of the request, the documents requested, the requester's name,
and the date the request was fulfilled or denied.
F.
Ensure that the Township staff, employees, and elected
or appointed officials are adequately trained to perform the job functions
and to respond to requests for access to public records to the Open
Records Officer.
A.
All requests for access to a public record or financial
records shall be in writing.
B.
The written request shall be on the form attached hereto as Exhibit A or on the form developed by the Office of Open Records of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Exhibit A is included at the end of this chapter.
C.
Written requests personally delivered to the Township
shall be delivered during the normal business hours of the Township,
to wit: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday (holidays or
days on which the Township is closed are excluded).
D.
Written requests received by mail shall be sent to
the attention of the Township Open Records Officer and mailed to the
following address: P. O. Box 452, Municipal Court, Harrison City,
PA 15636. A written request shall be deemed received by the Open Records
Officer three days after the same is postmarked or, if sent by registered
or certified mail, on the date received by the Open Records Officer.
E.
Written requests sent by e-mail or facsimile shall
be sent to an officially designated e-mail address or officially designated
facsimile address and shall be deemed received on the first business
day following the e-mailing or faxing of the request.
F.
Disruptive requests.
G.
Disaster or potential damage.
(1)
The Township may deny a requester access:
(a)
When timely access is not possible due to fire,
flood or other disaster; or
(b)
To historical, ancient or rare documents, records,
archives and manuscripts when access may, in the professional judgment
of the curator or custodian of records, cause physical damage or irreparable
harm to the record.
(2)
To the extent possible, the contents of a record under
this subsection shall be made accessible to a requester even when
the record is physically unavailable.
H.
Township discretion. The Township may exercise its
discretion to make any otherwise exempt record accessible for inspection
and copying under this chapter, if all of the following apply:
I.
Township possession.
(1)
A public record that is not in the possession of the
Township but is in the possession of a party with whom the Township
has contracted to perform a governmental function on its behalf, and
which directly relates to the governmental function and is not exempt
under this policy, shall be considered a public record of the agency
for purposes of this policy.
(2)
Nothing in this policy shall be construed to require
access to any other record of the party in possession of the public
record.
(3)
A request for a public record in possession of a party
other than the Township shall be submitted to the Open Records Officer
of the agency or party in possession. Upon a determination that the
record is subject to access under the Act, The Township Open Records
Officer shall assess the duplication fee established under the Act
and upon collection shall remit the fee to the party in possession
of the record if the party in possession duplicated the record.
J.
The right of access to a public record or financial
records does not include the right to remove said record from the
control or supervision of the Open Records Officer.
K.
The Township shall not limit the number of records
that can be requested.
L.
When responding to a request, the Township is not
required to create a record when one does not exist, nor is the Township
required to maintain, format or organize a record in a manner which
the Township does not currently use.
M.
The Township shall post on its Website, if it has
one or later creates one, and at the Township offices, contact information
for the Township's Open Records Officer, contact information for the
Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, the form to be used to file a
request, and a copy of this policy.
N.
The Township shall not accept oral or anonymous requests
for public records or financial records.
A.
Term of request. Subject to the provisions of § 45-4, all written requests shall contain the following information:
B.
Response to request.
(1)
If the Open Records Officer determines that an extension
of time is required to respond to a request, in accordance with the
factors stated in the Act, written notice shall be sent within five
business days of the receipt of the request. The notice shall indicate
that the request for access is being reviewed, the reason that the
review requires an extension, a reasonable date when the response
is expected, and an estimate of the applicable fees owed when the
record becomes available.
(2)
Up to a thirty-day extension for valid reasons does
not require the consent of the requester. If the response is not given
by the specified date, it shall be deemed denied on the day following
that date.
(3)
A requester may consent, in writing, to an extension
that exceeds 30 days, in which case the request shall be deemed denied
on the day following the date specified in the notice if the Open
Records Officer has not provided a response by that date.
(4)
If the requester agrees to the date extension, the
request shall be deemed denied on the day following the date specified
in the notice if the Township has not provided a response by that
date.
(5)
The Township shall not transmit records via e-mail
or facsimile.
C.
Granting of request.
(1)
If the Open Records Officer determines that the request
will be granted, the response shall inform the requester that access
is granted and either include information as to the regular business
hours of the Township Officer or state where the requester may go
to inspect the records electronically at a publicly accessible site.
The response shall also include the fee schedule in effect, a statement
that prepayment of fees is required in a specific amount, if access
to the records will cost in excess of $100, and the medium in which
the records will be provided.
(2)
A public record shall be provided to the requester
in the medium requested if it exists in that form; otherwise, it shall
be provided in its existing medium. However, the Township will not
be required to permit use of its computer.
(3)
The Open Records Officer may respond to a records
request by notifying the requester that the record is available through
publicly accessible electronic means or that the Township shall provide
access to inspect the record electronically. If the requester, within
30 days following the receipt of the Township's notice, submits a
written request to have the record converted to paper, the Township
shall provide access in printed form within five days of the request
for conversion to paper.
(4)
A public record that the Township does not possess
but is possessed by a third party with whom the Township has contracted
to perform a governmental function and which directly relates to that
governmental function shall be considered a public record of the Township.
(5)
If the Open Records Officer determines that a public
record contains information both subject to and not subject to access,
he shall grant access to the information subject to access and deny
access to the information that is not subject to access. The Open
Records Officer will redact from the record that information that
is not subject to access. The Open Records Officer shall not deny
access to the record if information is able to be redacted.
(6)
If the Open Records Officer responds to the requester
that a copy of the requested record is available for delivery at the
Township office, and the requester does not retrieve the record within
60 days of the Township's response, the Township shall dispose of
the copy and retain any fees paid to date.
D.
Notification to third parties.
(1)
When the Township provides, in response to a request,
a record that is not a public record generated by the Township, the
Open Records Officer shall notify any third party that provided the
record to the Township, the person that is the subject of the record,
and the requester.
(2)
The Open Records Officer shall notify a third party
of a record request if the requested record contains a trade secret
or confidential proprietary information, in accordance with law and
regulations.
E.
Denial of request.
(1)
If the Open Records Officer denies a request for access
to public record, whether in whole or in part, a written response
will be sent within five business days of the receipt of the request.
The response denying the request shall include the following:
(a)
Description of the requested record.
(b)
Specific reasons for the denial, including citation
of the supporting authority in the Act and/or this policy.
(c)
Name, title, business address, business telephone
number and signature of the Open Records Officer on whose authority
the denial was issued.
(d)
Date of response.
(e)
Procedure for the requester to appeal a denial
of access.
(2)
The Open Records Officer may deny a request for access
to a record if the requester has made repeated requests for the same
record and the repeated requests have placed an unreasonable burden
on the Township.
(3)
The Open Records Officer may deny a request for access
to a record when timely access is not possible due to a disaster or
when access may cause physical damage or irreparable harm to the record.
To the extent possible, a record's contents shall be made accessible
even when the record is physically unavailable.
(4)
Information that is not subject to access and is redacted
from a public record shall be deemed a denial.
F.
Appeal of a denial. If a written request for access
to a public record is denied or deemed denied, the requester may file
an appeal with the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records within 15 business
days of the mailing date of the Open Records Officer's response or
deemed denial.
B.
No fees may be imposed for a review of a request or
for a review of a record to determine whether the record is a public
record or financial record subject to access pursuant to the RTKL.
C.
There is attached hereto and marked Exhibit B, a schedule
of fees which shall be paid by the requester of a public record or
financial record.[2] This fee schedule shall only be amended by adoption of
resolution. In the event that the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records
or the RTKL is amended to increase or decrease said fees, the Township
shall, by resolution, adopt any such increase or decrease.
[2]
Editor's Note: Said fee schedule is on file
in the Township office.
Nothing in this article shall be construed to
modify, rescind or supersede any record retention policy or disposition
schedule of the Township established pursuant to the Municipal Records
Act (53 Pa.C.S.A. § 1381 et seq.) or the rules and regulations
promulgated thereunder.
