[HISTORY: Adopted by the Council of the City of Easton as
indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fees — See Ch. 285.
[Adopted 3-25-2009 by Ord. No. 5195[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Art. I,
Access to Public Records, adopted 2-26-2003 by Ord. No. 4285 (Art.
182 of the 1965 Codified Ordinances), as amended. This ordinance also
provided that it shall be retroactive to 1-1-2009.
[Amended 3-26-2014 by Ord. No. 5459]
The purpose of this article is to assure compliance with the
Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law, as amended by Act 3 of 2008 (2008,
Feb. 14, P.L. 6, No. 3) and codified at 65 P.S. § 67.101
and sections following (hereinafter the "Right-to-Know Law"), to provide
access to the public records of the City of Easton (hereinafter the
"City"), and to preserve the integrity of the City's records, and
to minimize the financial impact by the residents of the City regarding
the resources utilized in the receipt and processing of public records'
requests and the retrieval and copying of public records.
A.
The City Clerk is hereby appointed the City's Open Records Officer
in accordance with the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law. The Police
Lieutenant of Records shall be the Open Records Officer when a request
is received regarding police records. The Open Records Officer(s)
may be replaced from time to time by a further ordinance adopted by
the Council of the City. The Open Records Officer(s) and Police Open
Records Officer may be contacted as follows:
[Amended 3-26-2014 by Ord. No. 5459; 5-23-2018 by Ord. No. 5638; 10-28-2020 by Ord. No. 5722]
|
City Clerk/or their designated representative
City Hall
123 South Third Street
Easton, Pa. 18042
Telephone: 610-250-6730
Fax: 610-250-6736
|
Lieutenant of Records/or their designated representative
48 North Fourth Street
Easton, Pa. 18042
Telephone 610-250-6664
Fax: 610-250-6775
|
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NOTE: Email addresses can be located on the City of Easton's
website, www.easton-pa.gov, on the Right-to-Know request form(s).
|
B.
The functions of the Open Records Officer shall be as follows:
(1)
To receive requests submitted to the City under the Right-to-Know
Law, direct requests to other appropriate persons within the City,
or to appropriate persons in another agency, track the City's progress
in responding to requests and issue interim and final responses required
under the Right-to-Know Law.
(2)
Upon receiving a request for a public record, the Open Records Officer
shall do all the following:
(a)
Note the date and time of the receipt on the written request.
(b)
Compute the day on which the five-business-day period under
Section 901 of the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law will expire and
make a notation of that date on the written request.
[Amended 3-26-2014 by Ord. No. 5459]
(c)
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 1102(b) of the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know
Law or the appeal is deemed denied.
[Amended 3-26-2014 by Ord. No. 5459]
[Amended 3-26-2014 by Ord. No. 5459]
All written requests shall be submitted on a form promulgated
by the City. The request form will be available at the City Clerk's
office upon request and free of charge, and will also be available
on the City's Internet website, and the Pennsylvania Office of Open
Records Internet website. A copy of the form is attached to this article
as Exhibit A.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The form is on file in the City offices.
A.
Disruptive requests.
B.
Disaster or potential damage.
(1)
The City 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.
C.
City discretion. The City may exercise its discretion to make any
otherwise exempt record accessible for inspection and copying under
this article, if all of the following apply:
D.
City possession.
(1)
A public record that is not in the possession of the City, but is
in possession of a party with whom the City has contracted to perform
a governmental function on behalf of the City, and which directly
relates to the governmental function and is not exempt under the Right-to-Know
Law, shall be considered a public record of the City.
(2)
A request for a public record in possession of a party other than the City shall be submitted to the Open Records Officer of the City. Upon determination that the record is subject to access under the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Act, the Open Records Officer shall assess the duplication fee, as specified in Chapter 285, and upon collection shall remit the fee to the party in possession of the record if the party duplicated the record.
[Amended 3-26-2014 by Ord. No. 5459]
A.
Requests. The City may fulfill verbal, written or anonymous verbal
or written requests for access to records under the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know
Law. If the requester wishes to pursue the relief and remedies provided
for in the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law, however, the request for
access to records must be a written request.
[Amended 3-26-2014 by Ord. No. 5459]
B.
Written requests. A written request for access to records may be
submitted in person, by mail, by e-mail, or by facsimile. A written
request must be addressed to the Open Records Officer. Employees of
the City shall be directed to forward requests for records to the
Open Records Officer. A written request should identify or describe
the records sought with sufficient specificity to enable the City
to ascertain which records are being requested and shall include the
name and address to which the City should address its response. A
written request need not include any explanation of the requester's
reason for requesting or intended use of the records unless otherwise
required by law.
C.
Creation of record not required. When responding to a request for
access, the City shall not be required to create a record that does
not currently exist or to compile, maintain, format or organize a
record in a manner in which the City does not currently compile, maintain,
format or organize the record.
D.
Redaction. If the City determines that a public record contains information
that is subject to access as well as information that is not subject
to access, the City's response will grant access to the information
that is subject to access and deny access to the information that
is not subject to access. If the information subject to access is
an integral part of the public record, the City will redact from the
record the information that is not subject to access, and the response
will grant access to the information that is subject to access. The
City may not deny access to the record if the information that is
not subject to access can be redacted.
E.
Production of certain records.
(1)
General rule. If, in response to a request, the City produces a record
that is not a public record, the City shall notify any third party
that provided the record to the City, the person that is subject of
the record, and the requester.
(2)
Requests for trade secrets. The City will notify a third party of
a request for a record if the third party provided the record and
included a written statement signed by a representative of the third
party that the record contains a trade secret or confidential proprietary
information. Notification shall be provided within five business days
of receipt of the request for the record. The third party shall have
five business days from receipt of notification from the agency to
provide input on the release of the record. The City shall deny the
request for the record or release the record within 10 business days
of the provision of notice to the third party and shall notify the
third party of the decision.
(3)
Transcripts. Prior to adjudication becoming final, binding and nonappealable, the City shall provide a transcript of an administrative proceed to a requester. The City shall charge a fee to the requester for duplication of the transcript, which fee shall be as specified in Chapter 285.
[Amended 3-26-2014 by Ord. No. 5459]
F.
Fees.
(1)
Postage. A fee shall be charged for postage costs incurred by the
City in responding to any request. Fees for postage may not exceed
the actual cost of mailing.
(2)
Duplication. A fee shall be charged for duplication costs incurred by the City in responding to any request. The fee to be charged for duplication shall be as specified in Chapter 285.
[Amended 3-26-2014 by Ord. No. 5459]
(3)
Certification. The City will impose a fee as specified in Chapter 285 for certification of records if the certification is at the behest of the requester and for the purpose of legally verifying the public record.
[Amended 3-26-2014 by Ord. No. 5459]
(4)
Conversion to paper. If a record is maintained electronically or
in other nonpaper media, the fees for the duplication from the nonpaper
media to paper shall be the same as for duplication on paper.
(6)
Prepayment. Prior to granting a request for access to a public record
or records, the City will require a requester to prepay an estimate
of the fees authorized under this subsection if the fees required
to fulfill the request are expected to exceed $100.
A.
General rule. Upon receipt of a written request for access to a record, the City shall make a good faith effort to determine if the record requested is a public record and whether the City has possession, custody or control of the identified record, and will respond as promptly as possible under the circumstances existing at the time of the request. All applicable fees shall be paid in order to receive access to the record requested. Subject to the provisions of § 135-6B, the time for response shall not exceed five business days from the date the written request is received by the Open Records Officer. If the City fails to send the response within five business days of receipt of the written request for access, the written request for access shall be deemed denied.
B.
Extension of time.
(1)
Determination. Upon receipt of a written request for access, the
Open Records Officer shall determine if one of the following applies:
(b)
The request for access requires the retrieval of a record stored
in a remote location;
(c)
A timely response to the request for access cannot be accomplished
due to bona fide and specified staffing limitations;
(d)
A legal review is necessary to determine whether the record
is a record subject to access under the Right-to-Know Law;
(e)
The requester has not complied with the City's policies regarding
access to records;
(f)
The requester refuses to pay applicable fees authorized by the
Right-to-Know Law; or
(g)
The extent or nature of the request precludes a response within
the required time period.
C.
Notice.
(2)
The notice shall include a statement notifying the requester that the request for access is being reviewed, the reason for the review, a reasonable date that a response is expected to be provided and an estimate of applicable fees owed when the record becomes available. If the date that a response is expected to be provided is in excess of 30 days, following the five business days allowed for in § 135-6A, the request for access shall be deemed denied unless the requester has agreed in writing to an extension to the date specified in the notice.
(3)
If the requester agrees to the extension, the request shall be deemed
denied on the day following the date specified in the notice if the
City has not provided a response by that date.
D.
Denial. If the City's response is a denial of a written request for
access, whether in whole or in part, the denial shall be issued in
writing and shall include:
(1)
A description of the record requested.
(2)
The specific reasons for the denial, including a citation of supporting
legal authority.
(3)
The typed or printed name, title, business address, business telephone
number and signature of the Open Records Officer on whose authority
the denial is issued.
(4)
Date of the response.
(5)
The procedure to appeal the denial of access under the Right-to-Know
Law.
[Amended 3-26-2014 by Ord. No. 5459; 5-23-2018 by Ord. No. 5638]
This policy shall be available at the City Clerk's office on
the third floor of City Hall, 123 South Third Street, Easton, Pennsylvania
and on the City's Internet website. In addition, information regarding
the procedure to be followed by a requester to appeal a denial or
deemed denial of his or her request, including all contact information
for the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, shall be posted on the
City's Internet website.
