HARRISBURG - A flashpoint is emerging over a proposed rewrite of the state open records law concerning how to deal with record requests that governments consider "unduly burdensome."
The new legislation by Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-9, Chester, offers a number of changes to the 2008 law that set a legal presumption for the first time that records of government agencies are considered public documents.
Mr. Pileggi said the time is right to consider changes to the open records law because of recent decisions handed down by state appeals courts and unanticipated events such as the high volume of commercial and prison inmate-filed requests. The role of the state Office of Open Records, which decides whether a record is a public record, is addressed in the legislation, too.
But testimony at a recent Senate hearing highlighted differences in opinion over a bill provision allowing governments to petition the court for a protective order against burdensome requests for records made by the public.
The Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors said it is aware of problems with Right to Know Law requests filed by people upset with a citation relating to an enforcement action or compliance with an ordinance.
"Townships are seeing the Right to Know Law used as a hammer to harass the municipality or a neighbor," said PSATS President Lester Houck. "Some of these requestors submit voluminous, weekly requests simply to cause problems because of a gripe with the neighbor or township."
That same provision struck Ernie Schreiber, executive editor at Lancaster Newspapers, as ill-conceived.
"It is an automatic out for any agency that wants to avoid accountability," he said. "When a request is filed, the agency can simply file a petition to the court, a proceeding that would deter many requestors who do not have the legal resources to go to court."
Terry Mutchler, director of the open records office, said the provision would enable governments to bypass dealing with her agency and go to the courts instead.
The independent status of the OOR would be reinforced under the legislation. A provision would enable the office to review actual documents in private to see if they should be released.
The OOR should also be given power to enforce its rulings that grant access to records, said Kim de Bourbon, executive director of the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition.
The current law allows an agency to do nothing in response to an OOR ruling that it must release records, she added.
Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com