Westmoreland County grants few open-records requests
By Rich Cholodofsky
[Pittsburgh] TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Just one of every five open-records requests submitted to Westmoreland County this year was granted, according to the gatekeeper of those documents.
Westmoreland County this year fielded requests from the public for about 500 documents, the most ever received, according to county officials.
"We don't know for sure because we never had to track it before," said Ted Kopas, an aide to Commissioner Tom Balya.
The county, like all other government entities, was required to appoint an open-records officer to field the requests and process them. Lucy Yakulis, the county records management director, handled all records requests.
Formal request forms for open records can be found on the county's Web site and can be submitted in person, via fax, mail or e-mail.
Yakulis said that in 42 instances, the county sent out bills for costs associated with compiling the records. One person was billed $9,000 for a copy of digital maps of the county.
Another 50 requests were granted without fees.
Yakulis said about 50 requests were neither granted nor rejected; instead, those people were referred to the county's Web site, where the information is available for public review.
Most of the rejections were for records not in the county's custody, such as court documents or genealogy reports, Yakulis said.
"They were asking for court records that didn't fall under the open-records law," she said.
Under the state's Right to Know law, the county has five days to respond to a formal, written request for records. Denials can be appealed to the state Office of Open Records in Harrisburg.
Only one request for records that was denied by the county -- an inmate asking for a copy of his criminal court file -- was appealed to Harrisburg. The county's denial was upheld, Yakulis said.
Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, said she was not surprised that the county rejected so many public requests.
"I think it does depend on what people are requesting. People are unfamiliar with what open records are. It's something that hopefully will resolve itself," Melewsky said.
Yakulis said the open-records portion of her job, which until this year focused solely on storing and preserving old county records, consumed much of her time.
"There's days that's all I do," she said.
The commissioners last week voted to give Yakulis a $2,500 raise to reflect the additional job duties her role as open-records officer has required. The raise will be paid out of the county's record management fund.
[Pittsburgh] TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Just one of every five open-records requests submitted to Westmoreland County this year was granted, according to the gatekeeper of those documents.
Westmoreland County this year fielded requests from the public for about 500 documents, the most ever received, according to county officials.
"We don't know for sure because we never had to track it before," said Ted Kopas, an aide to Commissioner Tom Balya.
The county, like all other government entities, was required to appoint an open-records officer to field the requests and process them. Lucy Yakulis, the county records management director, handled all records requests.
Formal request forms for open records can be found on the county's Web site and can be submitted in person, via fax, mail or e-mail.
Yakulis said that in 42 instances, the county sent out bills for costs associated with compiling the records. One person was billed $9,000 for a copy of digital maps of the county.
Another 50 requests were granted without fees.
Yakulis said about 50 requests were neither granted nor rejected; instead, those people were referred to the county's Web site, where the information is available for public review.
Most of the rejections were for records not in the county's custody, such as court documents or genealogy reports, Yakulis said.
"They were asking for court records that didn't fall under the open-records law," she said.
Under the state's Right to Know law, the county has five days to respond to a formal, written request for records. Denials can be appealed to the state Office of Open Records in Harrisburg.
Only one request for records that was denied by the county -- an inmate asking for a copy of his criminal court file -- was appealed to Harrisburg. The county's denial was upheld, Yakulis said.
Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, said she was not surprised that the county rejected so many public requests.
"I think it does depend on what people are requesting. People are unfamiliar with what open records are. It's something that hopefully will resolve itself," Melewsky said.
Yakulis said the open-records portion of her job, which until this year focused solely on storing and preserving old county records, consumed much of her time.
"There's days that's all I do," she said.
The commissioners last week voted to give Yakulis a $2,500 raise to reflect the additional job duties her role as open-records officer has required. The raise will be paid out of the county's record management fund.