Regular Session 2017-2018 Senate Bill 0465 P.N. 0458

PRINTER'S NO. 458

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

No.

465

Session of

2017

INTRODUCED BY BLAKE, VULAKOVICH, FONTANA, FOLMER, VOGEL,

STEFANO, KILLION, MENSCH AND COSTA, MARCH 1, 2017

REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, MARCH 1, 2017

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," in

preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions; in

requirements and prohibitions, providing for Pennsylvania

Interscholastic Athletic Association; in access, further

providing for open-records officer, for requests and for

retention of records and providing for inmate access; in

procedure, further providing for access, for requests, for

written requests, for production of certain records and for

exceptions for public records; in agency response, further

providing for general rule and for extension of time; in

appeal of agency determination, further providing for filing

of appeal and for appeals officers; in judicial review,

further providing for Commonwealth agencies, legislative

agencies and judicial agencies, for civil penalty, for fee

limitations and for Office of Open Records; and, in

miscellaneous provisions, further providing for relation to

other laws.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. The definitions of "independent agency," "local

agency," "personal financial information" and "State-affiliated

entity" in section 102 of the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6,

No.3), known as the Right-to-Know Law, are amended and the

section is amended by adding definitions to read:

Section 102. Definitions.

The following words and phrases when used in this act shall

have the meanings given to them in this section unless the

context clearly indicates otherwise:

* * *

"Commercial purpose." As follows:

(1) The use of a record:

(i) for the purpose of selling or reselling any

portion of the record;

(ii) to obtain names and addresses from the record

for the purpose of commercial solicitation; or

(iii) in a manner through which the requester can

reasonably expect to generate revenue .

(2) The term does not include the use of a public record

by an educational or noncommercial scientific institution for

scholarly or scientific research or the use of a public

record by the news media, a journalist or an author for news

gathering or dissemination in a newspaper, periodical, book,

digital publication or radio or television news broadcast.

* * *

"Dedicated emergency response organization." As defined in

35 Pa.C.S. § 7332 (relating to definitions).

* * *

"Independent agency." Any board, commission, authority or

other agency or officer of the Commonwealth, that is not subject

to the policy supervision and control of the Governor. The term

does not include a legislative or judicial agency.

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"Inmate." An individual currently incarcerated, after having

been sentenced by a court of competent jurisdiction, in a

Federal, State or county correctional facility or prison.

* * *

"Local agency." Any of the following:

(1) Any political subdivision, intermediate unit,

charter school, cyber charter school or public trade or

vocational school.

(2) Any local, intergovernmental, regional or municipal

agency, authority, council, board, commission or similar

governmental entity. This paragraph includes an economic

development authority and an industrial development

authority. This paragraph does not include an office of an

elected tax collector.

(3) Any campus police department of a State-owned or

State-related college or university.

* * *

"Personal financial information." An individual's personal

credit, charge or debit card information; bank account or other

financial institution account information; bank, credit or

financial statements; account or PIN numbers; forms required to

be filed by a taxpayer with a Federal or Commonwealth taxing

authority; employee benefit election information; individual

employee contributions to retirement plans and investment

options; individual employee contributions to health care

benefits and other benefits; individual employee contributions

to charitable organizations; and other information relating to

an individual's personal finances.

* * *

"State-affiliated entity." A Commonwealth authority or

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Commonwealth entity. The term includes the Pennsylvania Higher

Education Assistance Agency and any entity established thereby,

the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, the Pennsylvania Game

Commission, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, the

Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, the Pennsylvania Municipal

Retirement Board, the State System of Higher Education, a

community college, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, the

Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, the Pennsylvania

Infrastructure Investment Authority, the State Public School

Building Authority[, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic

Association] and the Pennsylvania Higher Educational Facilities

Authority. The term does not include a State-related

institution.

* * *

"Time response log." A log created, received, maintained or

retained by a public safety answering point (PSAP), as defined

in 35 Pa.C.S. § 5302 (relating to definitions), containing the

following information:

(1) The time the call was received by the PSAP.

(2) The time the PSAP contacted or dispatched the

dedicated emergency response organization for response.

(3) The time the dedicated emergency response

organization responded.

(4) The time the dedicated emergency response

organization arrived on the scene.

(5) The time the dedicated emergency response

organization became available.

(6) The address of the incident or the street block

identifier, the cross street or the mile marker nearest the

scene of the incident.

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* * *

Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read:

Section 307. Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.

For purposes of this act, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic

Athletic Association is considered to be a local agency and

shall provide public records in accordance with this act.

Section 3. Section 502 of the act is amended by adding a

subsection to read:

Section 502. Open-records officer.

* * *

records officer with the Office of Open Records in a manner

prescribed by the Office of Open Records.

Section 4. Sections 506(a) and 507 of the act are amended to

read:

Section 506. Requests.

(a) Disruptive requests.--

(1) An agency may deny a requester access to a record if

the requester has made repeated requests for that same record

and the repeated requests have placed an unreasonable burden

on the agency.

(1.1) An agency may deny a request to a party to

litigation when the request:

(i) is material to a pending civil action or

proceeding to which the agency is a party and the

Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure or the Federal

Rules of Civil Procedure apply; or

(ii) was previously made in litigation discovery.

(2) A denial under this subsection shall not restrict

the ability to request a different record.

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* * *

Section 507. Retention of records.

(a) Agency schedules.--Nothing in this act shall be

construed to modify, rescind or supersede any record retention

policy or disposition schedule of an agency established pursuant

to law, regulation, policy or other directive.

(b) Prohibition.--

(1) Notwithstanding subsection (a), once a request for

records has been submitted under Chapter 7, an agency may not

knowingly dispose of any potentially responsive record until

the request has been responded to and any related appeals

have been exhausted.

(2) A court may impose a civil penalty of not more than

$10,000 if an agency or public official, in violation of

paragraph (1), disposes of any potentially responsive record

in bad faith.

Section 5. The act is amended by a adding a section to read:

Section 508. Inmate access.

(a) Status.--Except as provided in subsection (b), an inmate

may not be a requester for purposes of this act.

(b) Records.--An agency shall provide an inmate with copies

of the following records as they pertain directly to the inmate

if the disclosure of the record will not diminish the safety or

security of any person or correctional facility and if there are

no other policies or procedures in place for the inmate to

obtain the requested information:

(1) Criminal records relating to the criminal commitment

of the inmate.

(2) Institutional housing information.

(3) The inmate's financial records.

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(4) The inmate's work records.

(5) The inmate's educational records.

(6) The inmate's disciplinary records.

(7) Disciplinary, housing and other policies adopted by

the correctional institution or the Department of

Corrections.

(8) A record relating to any Federal or State benefit

received by the inmate or for which the inmate is eligible.

(9) The inmate's tax records.

(10) The inmate's voting records.

(11) Records relating to any license issued to the

inmate by a Commonwealth or local agency.

agency from voluntarily permitting an inmate to have access to

records not listed under subsection (b) or prevent an agency

from complying with a lawful subpoena or court order.

Section 6. Sections 701, 702, 703 and 707 of the act are

amended to read:

Section 701. Access.

(a) General rule.--Unless otherwise provided by law, a

public record, legislative record or financial record shall be

accessible for inspection and duplication in accordance with

this act. A record being provided to a requester shall be

provided in the medium, computer file format or other format

requested if it exists in that medium, computer file format or

other format; otherwise, it shall be provided in the medium in

which it exists. Public records, legislative records or

financial records shall be available for access during the

regular business hours of an agency.

(b) Construction.--Nothing in this act shall be construed to

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require access to any computer either of an agency or individual

employee of an agency.

Section 702. Requests.

Agencies may fulfill verbal[, written or anonymous verbal] or

written requests for access to records under this act. If the

requester wishes to pursue the relief and remedies provided for

in this act, the request for access to records must be a written

request.

Section 703. Written requests.

A written request for access to records may be submitted in

person, by mail, by e-mail, by facsimile or, to the extent

provided by agency rules, by any other electronic means. A

written request must be addressed to the open-records officer

designated pursuant to section 502 or to the administrative

office of the agency. [Employees of an] The administrative

office of the agency shall [be directed to] promptly forward

requests for records to the open-records officer of the agency

that received the request. A written request should identify or

describe the records sought with sufficient specificity to

enable the agency to ascertain which records are being requested

and shall include the name and address to which the agency

should address its response. [A] Except as required under

section 707(d), a written request need not include any

explanation of the requester's reason for requesting or intended

use of the records unless otherwise required by law.

Section 707. Production of certain records.

(a) General rule.--If, in response to a request, an agency

produces a record that is not a public record, legislative

record or financial record, the agency shall notify any third

party that provided the record to the agency, the person that is

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the subject of the record and the requester.

(b) Requests for trade secrets.--An agency shall notify a

third party of a request for a record if the third party

provided the record and included a written statement signed by a

representative of the third party that the record contains a

trade secret or confidential proprietary information.

Notification shall be provided within five business days of

receipt of the request for the record. The third party shall

have five business days from receipt of notification from the

agency to provide input on the release of the record. The agency

shall deny the request for the record or release the record

within ten business days of the provision of notice to the third

party and shall notify the third party of the decision.

(1) Prior to an adjudication becoming final, binding and

nonappealable, a transcript of an administrative proceeding

shall be provided to a requester by the agency stenographer

or a court reporter, in accordance with agency procedure or

an applicable contract.

(2) Following an adjudication becoming final, binding

and nonappealable, a transcript of an administrative

proceeding shall be provided to a requester in accordance

with the duplication rates established in section 1307(b).

(3) This subsection shall not be construed to require an

agency to transcribe a proceeding solely for purposes of

responding to a request under this act.

(d) Commercial requests.--An agency may require a requester

to certify in writing whether the request is for a commercial

purpose. Certification shall be submitted on a form developed by

the Office of Open Records. A requester that submits a false

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written statement shall be subject to 18 Pa.C.S. § 4904

(relating to unsworn falsification to authorities).

Section 7. Section 708(b)(6), (10)(i) and (ii), (13), (17)

and (18) and (c) of the act are amended and subsection (b) is

amended by adding paragraphs to read:

Section 708. Exceptions for public records.

* * *

(b) Exceptions.--Except as provided in subsections (c) and

(d), the following are exempt from access by a requester under

this act:

* * *

(6) (i) The following personal identification

information:

(A) A record containing all or part of a

person's Social Security number, driver's license

number, personal financial information, home,

cellular or personal telephone numbers, personal e-

mail addresses, employee number or other confidential

personal identification number.

(B) A spouse's name, marital status or

beneficiary or dependent information, including the

number, names and ages of an employee's dependents.

officer or judge.

(ii) Nothing in this paragraph shall preclude the

release of the name, position, salary, actual

compensation or other payments or expenses, employment

contract, employment-related contract or agreement and

length of service of a public official or an agency

employee.

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(iii) An agency may redact the name or other

identifying information relating to an individual

performing an undercover or covert law enforcement

activity from a record.

(iv) Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent the

disclosure of aggregated data of employer or employee

costs related to retirement benefits, health care

benefits or other benefits or the disclosure of options

made available to employees regarding retirement, health

care or other benefits plans.

* * *

(10) As follows:

(i) A record that reflects:

(A) The internal, predecisional deliberations of

an agency, its members, employees or officials or

predecisional deliberations between agency members,

employees or officials and members, employees or

officials of another agency, including predecisional

deliberations relating to a budget recommendation,

legislative proposal, legislative amendment,

contemplated or proposed policy or course of action

or any research, memos or other documents used in the

predecisional deliberations.

(B) The strategy to be used to develop or

achieve the successful adoption of a budget,

legislative proposal or regulation.

(ii) Subparagraph (i)(A) shall apply to agencies

subject to 65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 7 (relating to open meetings)

in a manner consistent with 65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 7. A record

which is not otherwise exempt from access under this act

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and which is presented to a quorum for deliberation in

accordance with 65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 7 shall be a public record

regardless of whether a vote occurs at the meeting.

* * *

(13) Records that would disclose the identity of, or

personal financial information relating to, an individual who

lawfully makes a donation to or for the benefit of an agency

unless the donation is intended for or restricted to

providing remuneration or personal tangible benefit to a

named public official or employee of the agency, including

lists of potential donors compiled by an agency to pursue

donations, donor profile information or personal identifying

information relating to a donor.

* * *

(17) [A] Except for a final safety inspection report

made pursuant to law or regulation or a final agency decision

in the noncriminal investigation, a record of an agency

relating to a noncriminal investigation, including:

(i) Complaints submitted to an agency.

(ii) Investigative materials, notes, correspondence

and reports.

(iii) A record that includes the identity of a

confidential source, including individuals subject to the

act of December 12, 1986 (P.L.1559, No.169), known as the

Whistleblower Law.

(iv) A record that includes information made

confidential by law.

(v) Work papers underlying an audit.

(vi) A record that, if disclosed, would do any of

the following:

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(A) Reveal the institution, progress or result

of an agency investigation, except the imposition of

a fine or civil penalty, the suspension, modification

or revocation of a license, permit, registration,

certification or similar authorization issued by an

agency or an executed settlement agreement unless the

agreement is determined to be confidential by a

court.

(B) Deprive a person of the right to an

impartial adjudication.

privacy.

(D) Hinder an agency's ability to secure an

administrative or civil sanction.

(E) Endanger the life or physical safety of an

individual.

(18) Emergency dispatches as follows:

(i) Records or parts of records, except time

response logs, pertaining to audio recordings, telephone

or radio transmissions received by emergency dispatch

personnel, including 911 recordings.

(ii) This paragraph shall not apply to a 911

recording, or a transcript of a 911 recording, if the

agency or a court determines that the public interest in

disclosure outweighs the interest in nondisclosure.

* * *

(31) An agency's financial institution account numbers,

routing numbers, credit card numbers and passwords.

(32) A record of any of the following:

(i) A volunteer ambulance service.

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(ii) A volunteer fire company.

(iii) A volunteer rescue company.

(iv) A volunteer water rescue company.

(v) A volunteer organization that provides hazardous

materials response services.

(vi) A volunteer organization that provides

emergency medical services.

Section 506(d)(1) shall apply to a volunteer organization

under this paragraph that contracts with a local agency to

provide services to the local agency.

subsection (b) shall not apply to financial records, except that

an agency may redact that portion of a financial record

protected under subsection (b)(1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6),

(11), (13), (16) [or], (17) or (30). An agency shall not

disclose the identity of an individual performing an undercover

or covert law enforcement activity.

* * *

Section 8. Sections 901, 902(b)(2) and 1101 of the act are

amended to read:

Section 901. General rule.

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

access to a record, an agency shall make a good faith effort to

determine if the record requested is a public record,

legislative record or financial record and whether the agency

has possession, custody or control of the identified record, and

to respond as promptly as possible under the circumstances

existing at the time of the request. All applicable fees shall

be paid in order to receive access to the record requested.

(b) Time for response.--The time for response shall not

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exceed, in the case of a request made in person or submitted by

regular mail, e-mail, web form, facsimile or similar means, five

business days from the date the written request is received by

the open-records officer for an agency. If the agency fails to

send the response within five business days of receipt of the

written request for access, the written request for access shall

be deemed denied.

Section 902. Extension of time.

* * *

(b) Notice.--

* * *

(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.] The request for access shall be

deemed denied if the agency fails to send a response within

30 days following the five business days allowed for in

section 901, unless the requester has agreed in writing to an

additional extension beyond 30 days.

* * *

Section 1101. Filing of appeal.

[(a) Authorization.--

(1) If a written request for access to a record is]

(a) Authorization.--The following shall apply:

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(1) (i) If a written request for access to a record is

denied or deemed denied, the requester may file an appeal

with the Office of Open Records or judicial, legislative

or other appeals officer designated under section 503(d)

within [15] 20 business days of the [mailing] postmark or

e-mail date of the agency's response or within [15] 20

business days of a deemed denial, whichever comes first.

(ii) The appeal shall [state the grounds upon which

the requester asserts that the record is a public record,

legislative record or financial record and shall] address

any grounds stated by the agency for delaying or denying

the request[.] and shall include the following:

(A) The text of the original request.

(B) The text of the agency denial.

to be relevant.

(iii) The office shall provide a form on its

publicly accessible Internet website, which may be used

by the requester to file the appeal.

(iv) The office may order a requester who fails to

include the information under subparagraph (ii) to

provide the required information.

(2) Except as provided in section 503(d), in the case of

an appeal of a decision by a Commonwealth agency or local

agency, the Office of Open Records shall assign an appeals

officer to review the denial.

(b) Determination.--

(1) Unless the requester agrees otherwise, the appeals

officer shall make a final determination which shall be

mailed to the requester and the agency within 30 days of

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receipt of the appeal filed under subsection (a). The appeals

officer may extend this deadline by up to 15 days by

providing notice to both parties.

(1.1) If a hearing is ordered under section 1102(a)(2),

the appeals officer may extend the deadline up to 90

additional days.

(1.2) If an in-camera review is ordered under section

1102(a)(2), the appeals officer may extend the deadline:

(i) Up to 45 additional days, if the number of

records is ten or fewer.

(ii) Up to 90 additional days, if the number of

records is greater than ten or the records include audio

or video recordings.

(1.3) If the issue before the office is substantially

the same as an issue currently on appeal to a court of common

pleas, the Commonwealth Court or the Supreme Court, the

appeals officer may stay the office's opinion until the

appeal is decided.

(2) If the office or other appeals officer fails to

issue a final determination within 30 days or as otherwise

provided under paragraph (1), the appeal is deemed denied.

(3) Prior to issuing a final determination, a hearing

may be conducted. The determination by the appeals officer

shall be a final order. The appeals officer shall provide a

written explanation of the reason for the decision to the

requester and the agency.

(4) If an appeals officer designated under section 503

does not have jurisdiction to hear an appeal but another

appeals officer has jurisdiction, the appeals officer shall

transfer the appeal to the other appeals officer with

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jurisdiction over the matter.

(1) A person other than the agency or requester with a

direct interest in the record subject to an appeal under this

section may, within 15 days following receipt of actual

knowledge of the appeal but no later than the date the

appeals officer issues an order, file a written request to

provide information or to appear before the appeals officer

or to file information in support of the requester's or

agency's position.

(2) The appeals officer may grant a request under

paragraph (1) if:

(i) no hearing has been held;

(ii) the appeals officer has not yet issued its

order; and

(iii) the appeals officer believes the information

will be probative.

(3) Copies of the written request shall be sent to the

agency and the requester.

Section 9. Section 1102(a) of the act is amended and the

section is amended by adding a subsection to read:

Section 1102. Appeals officers.

(a) Duties.--An appeals officer designated under section 503

shall do all of the following:

(1) Set a schedule for the requester and the open-

records officer to submit documents in support of their

positions.

(2) Review all information filed relating to the

request. The appeals officer may hold a hearing or conduct an

in-camera review. A decision to hold or not to hold a hearing

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is not appealable. A decision to conduct or not conduct an

in-camera review is not appealable. The appeals officer may

admit into evidence testimony, evidence and documents that

the appeals officer believes to be reasonably probative and

relevant to an issue in dispute. The appeals officer may

limit the nature and extent of evidence found to be

cumulative.

[(3) Consult with agency counsel as appropriate.]

(4) Issue a final determination on behalf of the Office

of Open Records or other agency.

* * *

agency to submit a record and a privilege or exemption log for

the purpose of conducting an in-camera review to determine if

the record is a public record.

Section 10. Sections 1301 heading and (a) and 1305 of the

act are amended to read:

Section 1301. Commonwealth agencies, legislative agencies

[and], judicial agencies and the Office of Open

Records.

(a) General rule.--Within 30 days of the mailing date of the

final determination of the appeals officer relating to a

decision of a Commonwealth agency, a legislative agency [or], a

judicial agency or the Office of Open Records issued under

section 1101(b) or the date a request for access is deemed

denied, a requester or the agency may file a petition for review

or other document as might be required by rule of court with the

Commonwealth Court. The court shall notify the Commonwealth

agency, legislative agency, judicial agency or Office of Open

Records of the appeal. The decision of the court shall contain

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findings of fact and conclusions of law based upon the evidence

as a whole. The decision shall clearly and concisely explain the

rationale for the decision.

* * *

Section 1305. Civil penalty.

(a) Denial of access.--A court may impose a civil penalty of

not more than $1,500 if an agency [denied] denies access to a

public record in bad faith.

(b) Failure to comply with [court] order.--[An] A court may

impose a civil penalty of not more than $500 per day if an

agency or public official [who does not promptly] fails to

comply with [a court] an order under this act [is subject to a

civil penalty of not more than $500 per day until the public

records are provided].

Section 11. Section 1307 of the act is amended by adding

subsections to read:

Section 1307. Fee limitations.

* * *

(g.1) Additional fees.--

(1) Notwithstanding subsection (e), each agency may

assess fees for responding to commercial requests under this

act. In addition to fees under subsections (a) and (b),

reasonable standard charges may be charged for document

search, retrieval, review and redaction for documents for

commercial use.

(2) Fees under paragraph (1) must be calculated at no

more than the hourly wage of the lowest-paid public employee

of the agency who is capable of searching, retrieving,

reviewing and providing for redaction of the information

necessary to comply with the request.

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(3) A fee may not be charged under paragraph (2) for the

first hour of search and retrieval time for all commercial

requests from a single requester in a 90-day period.

* * *

(i) Appeal.--A fee charged under this act shall be

appealable to the Office of Open Records.

Section 12. Sections 1310 and 3101.1 of the act are amended

to read:

Section 1310. Office of Open Records.

(a) Establishment.--[There is established in the Department

of Community and Economic Development an] The Office of Open

Records is established as an independent agency. The office

shall do all of the following:

(1) Provide information relating to the implementation

and enforcement of this act.

(2) Issue advisory opinions to agencies and requesters.

(3) Provide annual training courses to agencies, public

officials and public employees on this act and 65 Pa.C.S. Ch.

7 (relating to open meetings).

(4) Provide annual, regional training courses to local

agencies, public officials and public employees.

(5) Assign appeals officers to review appeals of

decisions by Commonwealth agencies or local agencies, except

as provided in section 503(d), filed under section 1101 and

issue orders and opinions. The office shall employ or

contract with attorneys to serve as appeals officers to

review appeals and, if necessary, to hold hearings on a

regional basis under this act. Each appeals officer must

comply with all of the following:

(i) Complete a training course provided by the

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Office of Open Records prior to acting as an appeals

officer.

(ii) If a hearing is necessary, hold hearings

regionally as necessary to ensure access to the remedies

provided by this act.

(iii) Comply with the procedures under section

1102(b).

(6) Establish an informal mediation program to resolve

disputes under this act.

(7) Establish an Internet website with information

relating to this act, including information on fees, advisory

opinions and decisions and the name and address of all open

records officers in this Commonwealth.

(8) Conduct a biannual review of fees charged under this

act.

(9) Annually report on its activities and findings to

the Governor and the General Assembly. The report shall be

posted and maintained on the Internet website established

under paragraph (7).

(b) Executive director.--Within 90 days of the effective

date of this section, the Governor shall appoint an executive

director of the office who shall serve for a term of six years.

Compensation shall be set by the Executive Board established

under section 204 of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177, No.175),

known as The Administrative Code of 1929. The executive director

may serve no more than two terms.

election nor accept appointment to any political office during

his tenure as executive director and for one year thereafter.

(d) Staffing.--The executive director shall appoint

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attorneys to act as appeals officers and additional clerical,

technical and professional staff as may be appropriate and may

contract for additional services as necessary for the

performance of the executive director's duties. The compensation

of attorneys and other staff shall be set by the Executive

Board. The appointment of attorneys shall not be subject to the

act of October 15, 1980 (P.L.950, No.164), known as the

Commonwealth Attorneys Act.

(e) Duties.--

(1) The executive director shall ensure that the duties

of the Office of Open Records are carried out and shall

monitor cases appealed to the Office of Open Records.

(2) The Department of Community and Economic Development

shall provide payroll, leave and benefits, budget,

information technology and administrative support to the

office.

(e.1) Public comment.--The office shall abstain from public

comment about a pending proceeding before the office. This

subsection shall not prohibit employees of the office from

making public statements in the course of official duties, from

issuing written advisory opinions, from making general comments

on this act that are not related to a specific pending

proceeding before the office or from explaining the procedures

of the office.

(f) Appropriation.--The appropriation for the office shall

be in a separate line item and shall be under the jurisdiction

of the executive director.

Section 3101.1. Relation to other laws.

(a) General rule.--If the provisions of this act regarding

access to records conflict with any other Federal or State law,

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the provisions of this act shall not apply.

(b) Records made public under other laws.-- If records are

expressly made public under any other Federal or State law, the

exceptions set forth in section 708(b) shall not apply.

Section 13. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017, or

immediately, whichever is later.

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