Borough of Lehighton, PA Chapter 33 Records, Public Access to

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Lehighton 6-29-2011 by Res. No. R-007-2011.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]

[1] Editor’s Note: This resolution also superseded former Ch. 33, Records, Public Access to, adopted 10-28-2002 by Res. No. R-008-2002.

§ 33-1 Open Records Officer.

The Borough of Lehighton designates the Borough Secretary as the Borough Open Records Officer. The current Borough Secretary is Brenda Koons.

§ 33-2 General availability.

All documents deemed public records shall be available for inspection, retrieval, and duplication at the Borough Building during established business hours with the exceptions of weekends and holidays.

§ 33-3 Requests.

A. Requests shall be made in writing to the Borough Open Records Officer on a form provided by the Borough.

B. Any person who makes a request in writing or by any other means shall be the same person who will retrieve the documents requested.

§ 33-4 Fees.

Paper copies shall be $0.25 per page per side. The certification of a record is $1 per record. Specialized documents, including, but not limited to, blueprints, color copies, and nonstandard-sized documents shall be charged the actual cost of production. If mailing is requested, the cost of postage will be charged. The Borough shall require prepayment of all fees prior to the release of records. The Borough shall require prepayment of an estimate of the fees prior to granting a request for access if the Borough expects the fee to exceed $100.

§ 33-5 Response to request.

A. The Borough shall make a good-faith effort to provide the requested public record(s) as promptly as possible. The Open Records Officer shall cooperate with those requesting records to review and/or duplicate original Borough documents while taking reasonable measure to protect Borough documents from the possibility of theft, damage, and/or modification.

B. The Open Records Officer shall review all written requests for access to public records. As soon as possible, but no later than five business days after receiving a written request to access public records, the Open Records Officer shall respond to such requests in writing consistent with Act 3 of 2008, the Right-to-Know Law.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: See 65 P.S. § 67.101 et seq.

C. If access to a record is denied, the response shall include a reason for denial as stipulated in Act 3 of 2008, the Right-to-Know Law.

D. The Open Records Officer/Agency may contact the requester by phone and/or mail to advise the requester of the availability of any documents requested.

§ 33-6 Contact information for appeals.

A. If a written request is denied or deemed denied, the requester may file an appeal in writing to Terry Mutchler, Executive Director, Office of Open Records, Commonwealth Keystone Building, 400 North Street, Plaza Level, Harrisburg, PA 17120-0225.

B. Appeals of criminal records shall be made to the District Attorney of Carbon County, Gary Dobias, P.O. Box 36, Jim Thorpe, PA 18229, [phone].

§ 33-7 Appeals process.

The appeal shall be filed within 15 business days of the mailing date of the Borough's response or within 15 business days of a deemed denial. The appeal shall state the grounds upon which the requester asserts the record is a public record and shall address any grounds stated by the Borough for delaying or denying the request.