SENATE DEMOCRATIC WRAP-UP FOR THE WEEK OF
November 26, 2007

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            The Senate this week voted 48-1 in favor of Senate Bill 1, the so-called “open records” legislation that would make all levels of government more open and accessible to the public.

Under the bill, which would amend the state’s “Right to Know Law,” all agencies would have to provide public records and could not deny access based on how the requester plans on using the public record.  This would apply to all state, local government, judicial and legislative agencies.

The measure would require that agencies accept informational requests made in person, by email, fax, or any other electronic means. 

All agencies would also have to appoint an open-records officer.  For the General Assembly, the Legislative Reference Bureau would designate this person.  The open-records officer would be responsible for receiving, processing, responding to requests in a timely manner and maintaining a record of the request. 

Agencies would also appoint an appeals officer to handle any appeals of denied access to records.  A denied request would have to be appealed to the appeals officer within 15 business days of the initial denial of access.  A further appeal could be made to Commonwealth Court. 

The bill would also establish a clearinghouse to provide information on the implementation and enforcement of this legislation; issue advisory opinions to agencies and requestors; provide training; employ hearing examiners for administrative appeals and establish a website to include advisory opinions and decisions. 

The Attorney General, Auditor General and Treasurer would be allowed to maintain their own administrative appeals process.  District Attorneys would hear administrative appeals for records that involve criminal investigative materials that are held by a local agency. 

       All agencies would have to make the following available on their websites: 

• Contact information for the open-records officer;
• Contact information for the relevant appeals officer;
• A form that can be used to request records; and
• The rules and regulations for the agency on the dissemination of public records.

The legislation also has exemptions to what must be released to the public. 

A civil penalty of up to $1,000 could be imposed if an agency wrongly denies access to a public record.  An agency or official who does not promptly comply with a court order could face a civil penalty of up to  $500 a day until the records are provided.

The open records legislation would complement substantive reforms the Senate embraced when it reconvened in January, 2007. Those rule changes instituted restrictions on session hours (8 a.m. to 11 p.m.), waiting periods on passing bills and amendments and the requirement that additional legislative information be made available in a timely fashion on the Internet.

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