Township of Whitehall, PA Open Records Policy

[Adopted 8-8-2005 by Ord. No. 2578]

Unless otherwise prohibited by law, the Township of Whitehall shall make all public records as defined by the Pennsylvania Open Records Law accessible for inspection and duplication by a requestor in accordance with 65 P.S. § 66.1 et seq. A public record shall be provided to a requestor in the medium requested if the public record exists in that medium; otherwise, it shall be provided in the medium in which it exists, except for the provision in § 1-324B. Public records shall be available for access during the regular business hours of the Township. Nothing in this Part 15 shall provide for access to a record which is not a public record.

§ 1-315 Request for access to public records.

All requests for public records shall be in writing and shall be set forth on the Township Request Form, a sample of which is attached hereto as Exhibit "A" incorporated herein by reference. The form shall include, among other things, the requestor's contact information, date received and specific records requested. Requests may be submitted in person or by mail or fax.

Requests must be specific enough for the Township to determine what records are needed.

§ 1-316 Open Records Officer.

[Amended 12-8-2008 by Ord. No. 2757]

Purpose. The purpose of this section is to assure compliance with Act 3 of 2008, the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law, as amended, to provide access to public records of Whitehall Township, to preserve the integrity of Whitehall Township's records; and to minimize the financial impact to the residents of the Township regarding the resources utilized in the receipt of and processing of public record requests and the retrieval and copying of public records.

Designated Open Records Officer. It is the policy of the Township to require the presence of a designated employee when public records are examined and inspected and to charge reasonable fees for duplication of public records of the Township. Whitehall Township designates the Deputy Mayor as the Open Records Officer, responsible for assuring compliance with the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law, in accordance with the following guidelines:

[Amended 6-8-2009 by Ord. No. 2776, approved 11-3-2009]

(1)

The Deputy Mayor may designate certain employee(s) to process public record requests.

(2)

The Deputy Mayor is responsible for minimizing, where possible, the financial impact to the Township regarding the resources utilized in the receipt and processing of public record requests and the retrieval and copying of public records.

(3)

All requests for public records of the Township under this policy shall be specific in identifying and describing each public record requested. In no case shall the Township be required to create a public record which does not exist or to compile, maintain, format or organize a public record in a manner in which the Township does not currently compile, maintain, format or organize the public record. All requests for public records shall be submitted in writing and include the date of the request; the requestor's name, address, and telephone number, certification of United States residency; signature of the requester; and, if duplication is requested, appropriate payment.

(4)

The designated employee shall make a good-faith effort to determine whether each record requested is a public record.

(5)

The Township shall facilitate a reasonable response to a request for the Township's public records. In no case is the Township expected to provide extraordinary staff to respond to the request, but it will respond in a manner consistent with the Township's administrative responsibilities and consistent with the requirements of the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law.

(6)

The designated employee shall respond to the requester within five business days from the date of receipt of the written request. If the Township does not respond within five business days of receipt thereof, the request is deemed denied.

(7)

The response provided by the Township shall consist of:

(a)

Approval for access to the public record;

(b)

Review of the request by the designated employee; or

(c)

Denial of access to the record requested.

(8)

If access to the public record requested is approved, the public record shall be available for access during the regular business hours of the Township. The designated employee shall cooperate fully with the requester, while also taking reasonable measures to protect Township public records from the possibility of theft and/or modification. The presence of a designated employee is required when public records are examined and inspected.

(9)

Fees for duplication of public records shall be as established by the commonwealth's Office of Open Records. The Township may, at its discretion, waive fees and by ordinance set forth fees as not otherwise established by the commonwealth's Office of Open Records.

(10)

In the event the estimated cost of fulfilling a request submitted under this policy is expected to exceed $100, the designated employee(s) shall obtain the expected cost in advance of fulfilling the request to avoid unwanted expense of Township resources.

(11)

Review of request.

(a)

If the request is being reviewed, the notice provided by the Township shall be in writing and include the reason for the review and the expected response date, which shall be within 30 days of the notice of review. If the Township does not respond within 30 days thereof, the request is deemed denied. Review of the request is limited to situations where:

[1]

The record requested contains information which is subject to access, as well as information which is not subject to access that must be redacted prior to a grant of access. The redacted information is considered a denial as to that information;

[2]

The record requires retrieval from a remote location;

[3]

A timely response cannot be accomplished due to staffing limitations;

[4]

A legal review is necessary to determine whether the record requested is a public record;

[5]

The requester has failed to comply with the Township's policy and procedure requirements;

[6]

The requester refuses to pay the applicable fees; or

[7]

The extent or nature of the request precludes a response within the required time period.

(b)

Upon a determination that one of the factors listed above applies, the Township shall send written notice to the requester within five business days of receipt of the request for access. 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, 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. 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 agency has not provided a response by that date.

(12)

If access to the record requested is denied, the notice provided by the Township shall be in writing as indicated on the form attached hereto entitled "Denial of Request to Review and/or Duplicate the Township of Whitehall Records.[1]"

[1]

Editor's Note: Said form is on file in the Township offices.

(13)

If the request is denied or deemed denied, the requester may file an appeal with the commonwealth's Office of Open Records within 15 business days of the mailing date of the Township's notice of denial, or within 15 days of a deemed denial. The appeal shall state the grounds upon which the requester asserts that the record is a public record and shall address any grounds stated by the agency for delaying or denying the request.

(14)

Within 30 days of the mailing date of the final determination of the appeals officer, the requester or Township may file a petition for review or other document as required by rule of court with the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County. The decision of the court shall contain findings of fact and conclusions of law based upon the evidence as a whole. The decision shall clearly and concisely explain the rationale for the decision. A petition for review under this section shall stay the release of documents until a decision is issued.

(15)

This policy shall be available for review at the Township office.

§ 1-317 Redaction.

If the Township determines that a public record contains information which is subject to access, as well as information which is not subject to access, the Township's response shall grant access to the information which is subject to access and deny access to the information which is not subject to access. If the information which is not subject to access is an integral part of the public record and cannot be separated, the Township shall redact from the public record the information which is not subject to access and the response shall grant access to the information which is subject to access. The Township may not deny access to the public record if the information which is not subject to public access is able to be redacted. Information which the Township redacts in accordance with this section shall be deemed a denial under § 1-316C of this Part 15.

§ 1-318 Final Township determination.

[Amended 6-8-2009 by Ord. No. 2776, approved 11-3-2009]

Filing of exceptions. If a written request for access is denied or deemed denied, the requestor may file exceptions with the Mayor of the Township within 15 business days of the mailing date of the Township's response or within 15 days of a deemed denial. The exceptions shall state grounds upon which the requestor asserts that the record is a public record and shall address any grounds stated by the Township for delaying or denying the request.

Determination. Unless the requestor agrees otherwise, the Mayor of the Township or his/her designee, shall make a final determination regarding the exceptions within 30 days of the mailing date of the exceptions. Prior to issuing the final determination regarding the exceptions, the Mayor or his/her designee may conduct a hearing. The determination shall be the final order of the Township. If the Mayor or his/her designee determines that the Township correctly denied the request for access, the Mayor or his/her designee shall provide a written explanation to the requestor of the reason for the denial.

§ 1-319 Judicial appeal.

Within 30 days of the denial by the Township pursuant to § 1-316C of this Part 15, or of the mailing date of a final determination of the Township affirming the denial of access, a requestor may file a petition for review or other document as might be required by Rule of Court with the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, or bring an action in the local magisterial district. A requestor is entitled to a reasoned decision containing findings of fact and conclusions of law based upon the evidence as a whole which clearly and concisely states and explains the rationale for the decisions so that all can determine why and how a particular result was reached.

Notice. The Township shall be served notice of actions commenced in accordance with Subsection A of this section and shall have an opportunity to respond in accordance with applicable court rules.

§ 1-320 Fees.

The Township may charge the following fees for requests made for access to public records:

(1)

Postage. Fees for postage shall be the actual cost of mailing.

(2)

Copying. Fees for duplication by photocopying, printing from electronic media or microfilm, copying onto electronic media, transmission by facsimile or other electronic means and other means of duplication shall be the same as the per copy fee set forth in the Township's fee schedule, as amended, from time to time, by resolution of the Board of Commissioners.

(3)

Certification. The fee for official certification of copies, if an official certification is requested by the requestor for the purpose of legally verifying the public record, shall be in an amount as established, from time to time, by resolution of the Board of Commissioners.

(4)

Conversion to paper. If a public record is only maintained electronically or in other non-paper media, duplication fees shall be those imposed by Subsection A(2) of this section.

The Township may waive the fees for duplication of a public record including, but not limited to, when:

(1)

The requestor duplicates the public record.

(2)

The Township deems it is in the public interest to do so.

Prepayment. Prior to granting a request for access in accordance with this Part 15, the Township may require a requestor to prepay an estimate of the fees authorized under this section if the fees required to fulfill the request are expected to exceed $100.

Limitations. Except as otherwise provided by statute, no other fees may be imposed unless the Township necessarily incurs costs for complying with the request and such fees must be reasonable. No fee may be imposed for the Township's review of a record to determine whether the record is a public record subject to access in accordance with 65 P.S. § 66.1 et seq.

§ 1-321 Township contact.

[Amended 6-8-2009 by Ord. No. 2776, approved 11-3-2009]

The person at the Township to whom all record requests should be addressed shall be:

Jack D. Myers

Deputy Mayor

Township of Whitehall

3219 MacArthur Road

Whitehall, PA 18052-2900

(610) 437-5524

§ 1-322 Regular business hours.

The regular business hours of the Township shall be 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

§ 1-323 Person designated to accept exceptions filed when a record is denied.

[Amended 6-8-2009 by Ord. No. 2776, approved 11-3-2009]

The individual at the Township who shall receive and respond to exceptions filed when a record is denied and the requestor disagrees with the denial shall be the Mayor.

§ 1-324 Miscellaneous.

The Township shall not ask for or require a purpose or motive for requesting a particular record and shall not limit the number of public records that may be requested.

If the record is only kept in electronic form, the Township shall make it available in paper on request.

The Township will not create a record that does not exist or put a document into a format that does not exist, except for Subsection B above.

This Part 15 shall be posted prominently at the Township municipal building.