Denied: Letter discussed at meeting not in township possession
Denied: A request seeking a
report or letter a Snyder Township supervisor
discussed at a public meeting.
From
the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information
Coalition
Denied: A request seeking a report or letter a Snyder Township supervisor discussed at a public meeting.
The township had denied the request, saying it was not in possession of the letter referenced at the meeting.
In response to the inquiry from the Office of Open Records, the township noted that although the letter from the state highway commission concerning a certain business was referred to at the meeting, the township did not receive the letter, and that the business owner had only advised a supervisor about receiving it. The supervisor in question supplied an affidavit advising that he did not possess nor read from the letter at the meeting.
As the OOR has ruled previously, an agency cannot be compelled to produce something it does not have.
"The mere fact that a record is mentioned at a public meeting in passing is not sufficient to qualify the record as a record of the township showing its transaction of business or activities, or to suggest that the record is public in nature," the OOR said.
Megel vs. Snyder Township -- AP 2009-0254
Denied: A request seeking a report or letter a Snyder Township supervisor discussed at a public meeting.
The township had denied the request, saying it was not in possession of the letter referenced at the meeting.
In response to the inquiry from the Office of Open Records, the township noted that although the letter from the state highway commission concerning a certain business was referred to at the meeting, the township did not receive the letter, and that the business owner had only advised a supervisor about receiving it. The supervisor in question supplied an affidavit advising that he did not possess nor read from the letter at the meeting.
As the OOR has ruled previously, an agency cannot be compelled to produce something it does not have.
"The mere fact that a record is mentioned at a public meeting in passing is not sufficient to qualify the record as a record of the township showing its transaction of business or activities, or to suggest that the record is public in nature," the OOR said.
Megel vs. Snyder Township -- AP 2009-0254