Monthly Archives: January 2011

Ruling in York County case closes public officials’ e-mails

Posted on January 29, 2011 by Scott Blanchard

There is some interesting reasoning in a recent court’s ruling that e-mails about public business on a public official’s personal computer are not public records. The case involved e-mails on York Township commissioner Ken Silberstein’s personal computer.  The requester, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Right-to-Know Law | Leave a comment

Audit gives York County drug forfeiture fund high marks

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Scott Blanchard

An audit of the York County Drug Forfeiture Fund found that a random selection of receipts were properly recorded, York County District Attorney Tom Kearney said Wednesday in a news release. Read more here. We’ve reported how state law keeps … Continue reading →

Posted in Transparency | Leave a comment

Freedom of Information Day Conference taking registrations

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Scott Blanchard

You can register now to attend the 13th annual National Freedom of Information Day Conference, scheduled for March 16 in Washington, D.C. Open records advocates, government officials, judges, lawyers, librarians, journalists, educators and others gather each year to discuss issues … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Hazleton-area township spars with ex-supervisor over financial records

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Scott Blanchard

Here’s an interesting story out of the Hazleton area in which a former township supervisor wants to see some financial records, but the township wants to charge her because it says it has to redact information and provide redacted copies. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Pennsylvania Right to Know | Leave a comment

York Co. tallies its 2010 RTK requests, responses

Posted on January 9, 2011 by Scott Blanchard

 In case you missed it, York County’s tally of right-to-know requests last year: 134. More than half from businesses; 35 from residents.  More here.  Anyone have stories to tell about either getting records, or being denied, in 2010?

Posted in Right-to-Know Law | Leave a comment

Lebanon Co. judge: Federal privacy law isn’t a blanket reason to deny public access

Posted on January 8, 2011 by Scott Blanchard

Every now and then a case comes up that reminds me how bad Pennsylvania’s old open records law was, and how much better the new one is (even though the new one has its own problems).  A man in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Boehner promises ‘restored openness’ in Congress. Meaning what, exactly?

Posted on January 5, 2011 by Scott Blanchard

The New York Times reports that new U.S. House Speaker Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, “promised a new era of transparency” as he took his seat today. “There were no open rules in the House in the last Congress. In this … Continue reading →

Posted in Federal government | Leave a comment

Morning links: A wish for the legislature; agency spars with agency

Posted on January 5, 2011 by Scott Blanchard

The “We didn’t know you still wanted that” reason for denying public records: Snyder County is appealing to the state’s open records office because it said it didn’t get all the financial information it wanted from the Central Pennsylvania Workforce … Continue reading →

Posted in Pennsylvania Right to Know | Leave a comment

Texas university to reconsider policy seen as limiting students’ right-to-know

Posted on January 1, 2011 by Scott Blanchard

 Texas A&M has a rule that university system employees can’t make public records requests of their employer, according to the San Antonio Express-Times. The school recently extended that to cover several students in a journalism class. Open-records advocates squawked, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Freedom of information | Leave a comment