Mitchell v. Office of Open Records
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
No. 1353 C.D. 2009
June 29, 2010
The Commonwealth Court determined that a Pennsylvania State Police report showing the arrival and departure times of police executing a search warrant was a criminal investigative record and therefore exempt from disclosure under the Right to Know Law (RTKL).
Background
George Mitchell, a state prison inmate, submitted a RTKL request to the Pennsylvania State Police seeking any documents showing the times officers arrived and departed from Mitchell’s address in carrying out a search warrant in April 2006.
The police denied the request, stating that there was only one document responsive to the request — an Automated Incident Memo System (AIMS) report that contained information about state troopers’ involvement in the execution of the warrant. The PSP claimed that this report was exempt from disclosure under the criminal investigation exception of the RTKL.
Mitchell appealed to the Office of Open Records, which upheld the police’s denial of Mitchell’s request. He then appealed to the Commonwealth Court.
Commonwealth Court Decision
The Commonwealth Court held that the police properly denied the request.
According to the court’s decision, the AIMS report is subject to the RTKL’s criminal investigation exception because it “pertains to a criminal investigation regarding the [Police’s] involvement in the execution of a search warrant.”