Michak v. Department of Public Welfare
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
No. 2318 C.D. 2011
November 9, 2012
The Commonwealth Court affirmed the final determination of the Office of Open Records (“OOR”) and denied the disclosure of License Inspection Summaries (“LIS”) of the Department of Public Welfare (“DPW”). The court ruled that a requester cannot request a different document from the one originally requested during the appeal process.
Background
George Michak submitted a Right to Know Law (“RTKL”) request to DPW for copies of every LIS to any provider of childcare services where a violation was cited since January 2008.
DPW denied the request, stating that the records were exempt under the RTKL’s exception for records relating to noncriminal investigations.
Michak appealed to the OOR, which affirmed the DPW’s decision. Michak then appealed to the Commonwealth Court.
Commonwealth Court decision
In front of the Commonwealth Court, Michak first argued that because the LISs alter the status of a provider’s certificate of compliance, they should not be exempt under the noncriminal investigation exception.
The court, however, rejected this argument based on a DPW affidavit that explained that LISs report on inspections and separate sanctions letters revoke or modify the certificates of compliance.
Next, Michak argued that the information from the LISs is already posted on the DPW web site. DPW countered that on appeal Michak was seeking different documents than the records he originally requested, explaining that the information on its website was contained in different records and that the LISs were not posted online.
The court agreed with DPW and held that a requester cannot argue on appeal “than an agency must . . . disclose different records in response to the request.”
Therefore, the Court affirmed the decision of the OOR and denied access to the records.