Pennsylvania Open Records and Right-To-Know
Right to Know Officer
Jamie Montague
phone: (570) 828-2347
email:
Click here -> https://www.openrecords.pa.gov/Documents/RTKL/RTKRequestForm.pdf
How to File a Request
A requester can file a Right-to-Know request in four ways:
- Fax
- Electronic mail
- In person
- U.S. Mail
Formal Written Requests
Requests to Delaware Township must be made on either the Standard Right-to-Know Law Request Form. Completed copies of the Standard Right-to-Know Law Request Form may be submitted to Delaware Township's Open Records Officer via email, mail, facsimile, or in person, using the contact information set forth above. To allow Delaware Township to locate responsive records and determine whether those records are public, requests for records should be specific and concise and identify as precisely as possible the records sought. Requesters should retain a copy of the request for their files, as a copy of the request may be necessary should a requester appeal Delaware Township's response. Requests for records should be addressed to Delaware Township's Open Records Officer. If a request is addressed to another agency’s open records officer, the request will be considered misdirected and improperly filed with Delaware Township.
Verbal and Anonymous Requests
Delaware Township may, in its discretion, respond to verbal and anonymous requests for records in as timely a manner as possible. However, requesters submitting verbal and anonymous requests for records may not pursue the remedies available to a requester under the RTKL. 65 P.S. § 67.702.
Date of Receipt
Requests will be date-stamped on the date in which they are received by Delaware Township's Open Records Officer or the individual designated as Open Records Officer in their absence.
Response Period
Delaware Township has five business days to respond to a request for records under the RTKL. Delaware Township is permitted to take an additional 30 days to respond to any request for the reasons set forth in Section 902 of the RTKL, 65 P.S. § 67.902. If Delaware Township invokes an extension, Delaware Township will inform the requester in writing as required by the RTKL.
The requester may agree, in writing, to extend Delaware Township's response period. The requester must agree to the extension during the initial five business day response period or during an extension invoked by Delaware Township.
Delaware Township Response
Delaware Township may grant a request in its entirety, partially grant and partially deny a request, or deny a request in its entirety. The final response of Delaware Township will be in writing. Should Delaware Township fail to issue a response within the applicable response period, the request is deemed denied.
Granting access to records
Delaware Township may grant a request for records by issuing a response: (1) granting access to inspect Delaware Township records during Delaware Township’s regular business hours; (2) sending copies of responsive records to the requester; and/or (3) notifying the requester that the record is available on Delaware Township’s website or another publicly accessible website.
Denying or partially denying access to records
Should Delaware Township deny or partially deny a request for records through redaction or otherwise, Delaware Township will inform the requester of the denial or partial denial in writing and inform the requester that Delaware Township does not possess the responsive record or, if the information is exempt from public access, provide a citation to the relevant legal basis for withholding the requested information.
Fees
The fee for a standard 8 1/2 x 11 black and white document is up to 25 cents per page.
- Postage fees may not exceed the actual cost of mailing.
- The Township cannot charge for the time it takes to redact a document or the legal review needed to determine if a document is a public record.
- The Township may require pre-payment if the fees are expected to exceed $100.
- The Township may withhold public records if you have not paid for previous requested records.
RTKL Appeals
If you submit a Right-to-Know request to a state or local agency in Pennsylvania and your request is denied, you can file an appeal with the Office of Open Records. There is no fee, and you do not need an attorney.
All appeals must be made in writing and must be submitted to the Office of Open Records within 15 business days from the mailing date of the Agency's response or the date that the request was deemed denied. If that timeframe expires before you provide the required information to the OOR, you lose your right to appeal and may need to file a new RTK request with the Agency.
The simplest and best way to prepare an appeal is to use the online version of the official OOR Appeal Form.
The OOR Appeal Form can be used to appeal full denials, partial denials, and deemed denials (i.e., when the agency doesn't respond by the deadline), as well as to appeal any fees being charged by the agency.
To file an appeal under the Right-to-Know Law, a requester must provide all of the following:
- A copy of the RTK request.
- A copy of the Agency's response (or a notation that 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.
- A written statement addressing any grounds stated by the agency for denying the request.
Using the online version of the official OOR Appeal Form will walk you through the process, step by step.
The OOR will not docket appeals or respond to requests where the OOR has reason to believe that a requester’s identity is anonymous or has been mispresented to the OOR.
The OOR strongly recommends that appeals be submitted through the online version of the official OOR Appeal Form.
If that's not possible, the OOR also accepts appeals via email, fax, postal mail, and in-person submission.
Appeals submitted
Email Attachment Formats: Appeals filed via email may include PDF, Microsoft Word (doc, docx, or rtf), Microsoft Excel (xls or xlsx), and image file (jpg, png, gif, or tiff) attachments. If an appeal to be filed via email includes an attachment of any other format, call the Office of Open Records (717-346-9903) before sending it. Any other formats may be rejected by Commonwealth servers.
Email Attachment Filesize: If an appeal to be filed via e-mail includes an attachment exceeding 4MB, call the Office of Open Records (717-346-9903) before sending it. Attachments exceeding 4MB may be rejected by Commonwealth servers.
Appeals may also be submitted via fax (717-425-5343) or postal mail:
Office of Open Records
333 Market Street, 16th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17101-2234
In-person submissions are accepted at the Office of Open Records, 333 Market Street, 16th Floor, Harrisburg, PA, during normal business hours.
The deadline for an appeal submitted electronically (email or fax) is 11:59:59 p.m. on the 15th business day from the mailing date of the Agency's response or the date that the request was deemed denied. For in-person submissions and submissions via postal mail, the deadline is 5:00 p.m. on the 15th business day.