THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

INTRODUCED BY KAUFFMAN, BAKER, BOYD, CALTAGIRONE, CLYMER, D. COSTA, DENLINGER, GABLER, GEIST, GINGRICH, GOODMAN, GROVE, HALUSKA, HARRIS, HESS, KILLION, KORTZ, MOUL, MURT, O'NEILL, PYLE, RAPP, REICHLEY, ROAE, SCAVELLO, SCHRODER, K. SMITH, STERN, VULAKOVICH AND WATSON, FEBRUARY 4, 2011

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, FEBRUARY 4, 2011  

AN ACT

Amending the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), entitled

"An act providing for access to public information, for a

designated open-records officer in each Commonwealth agency,

local agency, judicial agency and legislative agency, for

procedure, for appeal of agency determination, for judicial

review and for the Office of Open Records; imposing

penalties; providing for reporting by State-related

institutions; requiring the posting of certain State contract

information on the Internet; and making related repeals,"

providing for requests for public records of the Department

of Corrections; and further providing for extension of time.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  The act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known

as the Right-to-Know Law, is amended by adding a section to

read:

Section 709.  Requests for public records of the Department of

Corrections.

(a)  Determination.--Upon receiving a request for a public

record containing personal identification information of

employees of the Department of Corrections, an agency shall

determine if the requester has been convicted of a felony in

this Commonwealth.

(b)  Requester convicted of felony.--If a requester has been

convicted of a felony in this Commonwealth, an agency shall deny

the requester access to records which contain personal

identification information of an employee of the Department of

Corrections.

(c)  Applicability.--This section shall not apply if the

record is subpoenaed by court order.

Section 2.  Section 902 of the act is amended to read:

Section 902.  Extension of time.

(a)  Determination.--Upon receipt of a written request for

access, the open-records officer for an agency shall determine

if one of the following applies:

(1)  the request for access requires redaction of a

record in accordance with section 706;

(2)  the request for access requires the retrieval of a

record stored in a remote location;

(3)  a timely response to the request for access cannot

be accomplished due to bona fide and specified staffing

limitations;

(4)  a legal review is necessary to determine whether the

record is a record subject to access under this act;

(5)  the requester has not complied with the agency's

policies regarding access to records;

(6)  the requester refuses to pay applicable fees

authorized by this act; [or]

(7)  the extent or nature of the request precludes a

response within the required time period[.]; or

(8)  the request for access to a record containing

personal identification information of an employee of the

Department of Corrections requires the agency to determine if

the requester has been convicted of a felony in this

Commonwealth.

(b)  Notice.--

(1)  Upon a determination that one of the factors listed

in subsection (a) applies, the open-records officer shall

send written notice to the requester within five business

days of receipt of the request for access under subsection

(a).

(2)  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 in section 901,

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.

(3)  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.

Section 3.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.