The Commonwealth Court reversed an Office of Open Records (“OOR”) final determination, denying the disclosure of records relative to the gas pipes of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (“PUC”) because the records qualified for the noncriminal investigation exemption of the Right to Know Law.
The Commonwealth Court held that an agency must issue a final response to a Right to Know Law (“RTKL”) request within the time limits established under the law and cannot refuse to provide requested documents because the requester has not paid for records he previously requested.
In addition, the court ruled that an agency can waive the attorney-client privilege by failing to raise it as a ground for denying a RTKL request.