PaFOIC

Denied: Truck inspection records not in PennDOT possession

Denied: A request to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for records regarding the inspection of a specific vehicle.
From the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition

Denied:
A request to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for records regarding the inspection of a specific vehicle.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation partially granted and partially denied the request, indicating that some of the records requested were exempt as being part of a noncriminal investigation.

Further, it noted that information requested regarding the inspection of a truck and the records of an inspection station were not in its possession. PennDOT noted that inspections stations are required to keep their own records for two years, and that they do not forward information relating to vehicles inspected to PennDOT.

PennDOT also noted that the records in question, in any case, had already been seized by the Pennsylvania State Police as part of an investigation.

The Office of Open Records concluded that PennDOT met its burden of proving that it did not have the records requested.

“However, the citizen is not precluded from making a Right-to-Know request to another agency that may have the responsive records,” the OOR noted.

Kline vs. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation: AP 2009-0249