Right to Know

The Right to Know Law is the Pennsylvania law that guarantees your right to access and obtain copies of specified public records held by government agencies. To make a formal request for a record from Chadds Ford Township, please complete a Right-to-Know Uniform Request Form, and send it to: Lacey Faber, Open Records Officer, Chadds Ford Township, 10 Ring Road, Chadds Ford, PA 19317 via regular mail or info [at] chaddsfordpa.gov (email). If reproduction fees apply due to your request, then see the Township's Fee Schedule.

Chadds Ford Township's Anonymous Right to Know Request Policy

Chadds Ford Township believes in the public’s right to know and follows Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law. Chadds Ford Township does not respond to anonymous requests.

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 requested if it exists in that medium; 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 require access to any computer either of an agency or individual employee of an agency."

What records are exempt from access?

Privileged records. Under the new law, records that are protected by a privilege, such as the attorney-client privilege or the doctor-patient privilege are not public.

Records that are expressly made non-public by another law. Records that are non-public under some other law (e.g., federal law makes student educational records non-public) are not public. Of course, the reverse is also true. If another statute makes a record public, then that record is public, and the Right to Know Law does not change that. For example, the Criminal History Record Information Act (CHRIA) expressly states that police blotters are public records. The Right to Know Law does not change this. Likewise, the law does not affect access to criminal and civil court records or voter registration records.

Right to Know Law exemptions. Section 708 of the new law contains 30 categories of exemptions. As stated above, agencies may release these records in many circumstances.
With very limited exceptions, the exemptions do not apply to financial records or aggregated data. The exemptions include the following:

Records that, if disclosed, would result in the loss of Federal or state funds;
Records that, if disclosed, would result in physical harm to an individual or would harm an individual's personal security;
Records that would jeopardize homeland security or public safety or preparedness;
Records that, if disclosed, would endanger the safety or security of a building, public utility, infrastructure, or information storage system;
Records that, if disclosed, would jeopardize computer security;
Medical, psychological and related records that would disclose individually identifiable health information;
Personal identification information, including social security numbers, personal financial information, driver's license numbers, and home telephone numbers;
Home addresses of law enforcement personnel and judges;
Certain personnel records relating to public employees, including applications of those not hired, academic transcripts, and information regarding discipline (except that final actions of an agency that result in demotion or discharge are public);
Records relating to collective bargaining strategy or negotiations, except that final contracts and agreements and final awards and orders of arbitrators are public;
Working drafts of bills, resolutions, and policies;
Records reflecting internal, predecisional deliberations of agencies, including internal strategies. This exemption does not apply to records reflecting an agency decision, records requesting state funding/grant money, or results of public opinion surveys or polls. In addition, records presented to a quorum of an agency for public deliberation at a meeting subject to the Sunshine Act (e.g., board packets) are public records, with limited exceptions.
Trade secrets and confidential proprietary information.
Notes and working papers used by a public official or employee solely for that individual's own personal use.
Records that would disclose an agency donor, except under certain circumstances;
Unpublished academic materials;
Academic transcripts and examination materials;
Criminal investigative records. This exemption does not apply to information contained in a police blotter or in a traffic report (except for in-depth accident investigations);
Non-criminal investigative records. This exemption does not apply to fines levied by agencies, license revocations, settlement agreements, or similar agency actions;
911 records, except that time response logs are public, and agencies can disclose 911 recordings or transcripts if the agency or a court determines that the public interest in disclosure outweighs the interest in nondisclosure;
DNA and RNA records;
Autopsy reports, except that name, cause, and manner of death of a deceased individual are public;
Draft minutes of an agency until the next meeting and minutes of an executive session;
Real estate appraisals, environmental reviews, audits or evaluations relating to an agency's proposed lease, acquisition, or disposal of real property. The exemption no longer applies once the decision to lease, acquire or dispose of the property is made.
Library circulation records and certain archived materials;
Records identifying the location of an archeological site or an endangered or threatened plant or animal species if not already publicly known;
Proposals relating to agency procurement or disposal of supplies, services or construction prior to the award of the contract or the opening and rejection of all bids. Financial information of a bidder or offeror;
Communications between an agency and its insurance carrier, administrative service organization, or risk management office. This exemption does not apply to contracts between agencies and these entities or to financial records relating to the provision of insurance;
Records identifying individuals who apply for or receive social services or disclosing the social services received by an individual.
Correspondence between a person and a legislator that would identify a person requesting assistance or constituent services. This exemption does not apply to communications from lobbyists.
Records identifying the name, home address, or date of birth of a child 17 years of age or younger.

Section 703. Written Requests.
"A written request for access to records may be submitted in person, by mail, by email, by facsimile or, to the extent provided by agency rules, any other electronic means. A written request must be addressed to the open-records officer designated pursuant to Section 502. Employees of an agency shall be directed to forward requests for records to the open-records officer. 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 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 705. Creation of Record.
"When responding to a request for access, an agency shall not be required to create a record which does not currently exist or to compile, maintain, format or organize a record in a manner in which the agency does not currently compile, maintain, format or organize the record."

Section 901. General Rule.
"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 circumstances existing at the time of the request. All applicable fees shall be paid in order to receive access to the record requested. The time for response shall not exceed 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.
(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."

Section 903. Denial.
If an agency's response is a denial of a written request for access, whether in whole or in part, the denial shall be issued in writing and shall include:
(1) A description of the record requested.
(2) The specific reasons for the denial, including a citation of supporting legal authority.
(3) The typed or printed name, title, business address, business telephone number and signature of the open-records officer on whose authority the denial is issued.
(4) Date of the response.
(5) The procedure to appeal the denial of access under this act.

Section 1101. Filing of appeal.
(a) Authorization.
(1) 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 business days of the mailing date of the agency's response or within 15 business days of a deemed denial. The appeal shall state the grounds upon which the requestor 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.

You have a right to appeal, if the information you have requested from Chadds Ford Township is denied, in writing within 15 days of the Township's written denial to: Office of Open Records, Commonwealth Keystone Building, 333 Market Street, 16th Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17120-2234 or via the Office of Open Records Online Appeal Form.

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