Jackson Township

                                                       Jackson Township

                                                NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY,

                                                            PENNSYLVANIA 

REVISION TO THE EXISTING RIGHT TO KNOW POLICY DATED APRIL 7TH,  2003. 

                             RIGHT-TO-KNOW POLICY

SECTION 1. Open Record Officer

               The township designates Paul H. Witmer as the township Open Records Officer.

The Open Records officer may be reached at the Jackson Township Municipal Building, 145 Jackson Township RD. Herndon Pennsylvania. The Telephone number is (570) 758-1715. The fax number is (570) 758-1715. The e-mail address is jacksontwp@tds.net. The township does have a website with all of the above information as well at www.jacksontowship.homestead.com.

SECTION 2. General 

               All documents deemed public records by Act 3 of 2008 shall be available for inspection, retrieval, and duplication upon request by appointment with the records officer.

SECTION 3. Requests

               Requests shall be made in writing to the township Open Records Officer on a form provided by the township. ( See attached form)

SECTION 4. Fees    

          Paper Copies that can be made on township copier shall be $0.25 cents per page per side.  Copies that require outsourcing will have the associated cost determined at that time which will be no more than actual cost of outsourcing. Fax copies will be available at the cost of  $1.00 dollar per page.  If mailing is requested, the cost of the postage will be charged.

              Conversion to paper,  If a record is only maintained electronically or in other non paper media, duplication fees shall be limited to the lesser of the fee for duplication on paper or the fee for duplication in the original media unless the requester specifically requests for the record to be duplicated in the more expensive medium. 

              Inspection of redacted records. If a requester wishes to inspect rather than receive a copy of a record and the record contains both public and non-public information, the township shall redact the non-public information. The township may not charge the requester for the redaction. However, the township may charge for the copies it must make of the redacted material in order for the requester to view the public record. The fee structure outlined above will apply. If after inspecting the records, the requester chooses to obtain the copies, no additional fee may be charged.

              Fee Limitations, Except as otherwise provided by statute, the law states that no other fee may be imposed unless the township necessarily incurs costs of complying with the request, and such fees must be reasonable. No fee may be imposed for a township’s review of a record to determine whether the record is a public record, legislative record or financial record subject to access in accordance with this Act No fee may be charged for searching for or retrieval of documents. A township may not charge staff time or salary for complying with a Right-To-Know request.

             Prepayment, Prior to granting a request for access in accordance with this Act, the township shall require a requester to prepay an estimate of the fees authorized under this section if the fees required to fulfill the request are expected to exceed $100.00.

SECTION 5. Township’s Response

             Upon receipt of a written request for access to a record, the Township shall make a good faith effort to determine if the record requested is a public record and whether the Township has possession, custody or control of the identified record. When doing so the township will respond as promptly as possible under the circumstances existing at the time of the request.  Under the Right-To-Know Law, the Township must send a response within five (5) business days of receipt of the written request for access, or else the written request shall be deemed denied. For purposes of this policy, a business day is any Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, except when a holiday falls on one or more or those days. The response will indicate: (1) the request for access to public records has been approved (2) further review of the request is necessary as set forth below, or (3) the request for access has been denied.

           Upon receipt of a written request for access, the officer shall determine if one of the following applies:

(a) The request for access requires redaction of a record in accordance with the Right-To

Know Law;                                                                                                                     

(b) The request for access requires the retrieval of a record stored in a remote location;

(c) A timely response to the request for access can not be accomplished due to bona fide and specified staffing limitations;

(d) A legal review is necessary to determine whether the record is a record subject to access under the Right-To –Know Law;

(e) The requestor has not complied with the Township’s policies regarding access to records;

(f) The requester refuses to pay applicable fees authorized by the Right-To-Know Law, or 

(g)The extent or nature of the request precludes a response within the required time period     

    of  five (5) Business days.

         Upon a determination that one of the factors listed above applies, the officer shall send written notice to the requester within five (5) business days of receipt of the request for access. 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. Information, which the Township redacts in accordance with the Right-To- Know Law shall be deemed a denial.

          If the date that a response is expected to be provided is in excess of thirty (30) days, following the five (5) business days allowed for above, 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. 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 Township has not provided a response by that date.

          For purposes of this policy, the “mailing date” shall be the date affixed to a: (1) response from the Officer to a request, which is to be the date the response is deposited in the US mail; (2) final determination from the officer, which is to be the date the final determination is deposited in the US mail.

SECTION 6. Contact information for Appeals

              If a written request is denied or deemed denied, the requester may file an appeal in writing to Terry Mutchler, Executive Director, Office of Open Records, Commonwealth Keystone Building, 400 North Street, Plaza Level Harrisburg, PA 17120-0225

SECTION 7. Appeals Process

                

              The appeal shall be filed within 15 business days of the mailing date of the township’s response or within 15 business days of a deemed denial, The appeal shall state the grounds upon which the requester asserts the records are public record and shall address any grounds stated by the township for delaying or denying the request.

SECTION 8. Effective Date

                January  5, 2009

Attest:

Jackson Township Superviors