Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law for Requesters - OOR Training

This session, hosted by OOR Executive Director Erik Arneson on Dec. 2, 2020, focuses on Right-to-Know Law issues of importance to the media and to citizen requesters. Topics covered include: RTKL basics (1:16) What a "record" is under the RTKL (2:42) The presumption of openness (7:01) How to file a RTKL request (10:15) The standard RTKL request form (16:31) The RTKL request timeline (20:25) Costs under the RTKL and format of records (25:11) What to expect when an agency denies a request (29:38) Writing a good RTKL request: Don't ask questions (30:26) Writing a good RTKL request: Specificity (31:33) Writing a good RTKL request: Keywords (38:47) Writing a good RTKL request: Be cautious about "lists" (41:08) Writing a good RTKL request: Information in databases (42:29) Common exemptions raised by agencies (49:56) Exemption (b)(1): Personal security (51:50) Exemption (b)(2): Public safety (52:47) Exemption (b)(6): Personal identification information (54:35) Exemption (b)(7): Agency employee information (55:44) Exemption (b)(10): Internal, predecisional deliberations (57:30) Exemption (b)(17): Non-criminal investigations (59:27) Exemption (b)(16): Criminal investigations (1:01:50) Police blotter information & other law enforcement records (1:02:28) Appealing a denial from a local law enforcement agency (1:05:26) Requesting police recordings (1:07:14) 911 recordings and transcripts (1:08:40) Tip: Communicate with the agency (1:10:02) Appealing a RTKL denial (1:12:07) Mediation at the OOR (1:19:38) About the OOR (1:21:20) OOR Resources (1:23:46) Download the presentation here: https://openrecordspa.files.wordpress... https://openrecordspa.files.wordpress... The OOR website is https://www.openrecords.pa.gov/ The OOR training calendar is available at https://www.openrecords.pa.gov/RTKL/T...