* Updated on June 14, 2011
Purpose
To provide procedures and fees for requesting, inspecting and obtaining copies of public records maintained by the City of Reading pursuant to the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law, 65 P.S. §66.1 et al. This policy replaces all prior inconsistent City policies.
Requests
1. All requests for public records must be in writing and signed by the requester. The request should identify or describe the records sought with sufficient specificity to enable the City to ascertain which records are being requested; from which Department the request is being made; and the name and address to which the City should address its response. The City will not accept anonymous requests for records.
2. The request should specify the type of access sought by the requester. When no specific type of access is requested, the request will be deemed a request for a paper copy of the identified document(s) that will be sent to the requester by first class U.S. mail.
3. The requester should also provide additional contact information such as a telephone number, facsimile number and e-mail address to facilitate the processing of a request.
4. A request may be submitted using the City ’s “Right-to-Know Law Request Form.” Forms are available for pickup at the Managing Director's Office at the address below.
5. Written requests for records may be sent to the City by mail or via facsimile to 610-655-6296, or they may be delivered in person during the City ’s regular business hours of 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Monday through Friday. Delivery “in person” includes delivery by the requester, courier, messenger, parcel delivery service, or other similar service.
To expedite processing, the written request shall state explicitly – both on the enclosure envelope or fax cover sheet and in the written request – that the communication is made for the purpose of requesting access to public records under the Law.
6. All requests for records shall be mailed or delivered to:
Managing Director's Office
815 Washington Street
Reading, PA 19601
managing.director@readingpa.org
Submittal of a request to any other address or facsimile number does not give rise to any obligation on the part of the City to respond to it, nor can it serve as a basis for the deemed denial of the request.
7. The Right-to-Know Law official, who is the Managing Director, has the authority to grant and deny physical access to a public record and the discretion to impose reasonable restrictions on the time, place and nature of access.
Fees
If a written request for records is granted in whole or in part, the following fees will be charged to the requester:
- Fees for duplication of public records shall be as follows:
- Photocopy $0.25 per page
- Certification of a public record $5.00 per record to certify
- Copying records onto electronic media Actual Cost
- Specialized Documents Actual Cost
- Postage Actual Cost to the City of Reading of mailing the public record
- Facsimile/Microfiche/Other Media Actual Cost
- Prepayment
- Estimate Cost Exceeds $100 – In the event the estimated cost of fulfilling a request submitted under this Part is expected to exceed $100, the Open Records Officer shall obtain payment of 50% of the expected cost in advance of fulfilling (copying) the request to avoid unwarranted expense of City of Reading resources.
- Prior to Release – The City may obtain the Cost of the records prior to releasing the records.
- Redaction - A fee to redact documents may not be charged. If a requester wishes to inspect rather than receive a copy of a record and the records contains both public and non-public information, the City shall redact the non-public information and shall charge for copies, in accordance with the above fee schedule, it must make of the redacted material in order for the requester to view the public record. Should the requester choose to obtain copies of the redacted documents after reviewing the records, no additional fee may be charged.
- Statutory Fees – If a separate statute authorizes the City to charge a set amount for a certain type of record, the City may charge no more than that statutory amount.
- Conversion to Paper – If a record is only maintained electronically or in other non-paper media, duplication fee 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 media.
- Certification – legal verification of a public record performed at the behest of the requester, does not include notarization
- Photocopy – either a single sided copy or one side of a double-sided black and white copy of a standard 8.5”x11” page
- Specialized Documents – non-standard sized documents including but not limited to blue prints or color copies
All costs must be paid by check or money order payable to the “City of Reading”.
Questions:
Any additional questions regarding this policy may be directed to the Managing Director at 610-655-6222.
Prior to requesting copies of information from the City you may contact via telephone or visit the Managing Director's Office to obtain a request form, or you can print out the attached request form. Upon return please have the attached request form completed and either drop off or mail the form to 815 Washington Street Room 2-27, Reading PA 19601 and/or fax the completed request form to 610-655-6296. Once received the request will be date and time stamped.
If you have any questions regarding the Right to Know Law you can contact the Managing Director's Office at 610-655-6222 or visit the attached link to the Open Records Office in Harrisburg, PA.
Right-To-Know Law Request Form (Adobe PDF)
http://openrecords.state.pa.us/ |
