Right To Know - Open Records Policy
Open Record Officer
The Township hereby designates Ilene Eckhart as the Township Open Records Officer.
The Open Records Officer may be reached at:
Allen Township
4714 Indian Trail Road
Northampton, PA 18067
Phone: (610) 262-7012
Fax: (610) 262-7364
Email: info@allentownship.org
Requests
Your request should be made in writing addressed to the Open Records Officer on the
STANDARD RIGHT TO KNOW REQUEST FORM. This form is available at the Township Municipal Office or from our Forms & Documents section, where the form can be printed. Please mail or drop off your request form. At this time, the Township will not be accepting requests by email.
Township Grant or Denial of Request
Some documents contain protected information under the Right to Know Law, and these documents, or portions of them, may not be considered Public Records. The Open Records Officer will send a response to you in writing, explaining the information required under the law, including any special measure that may be required to protect the township documents from the possibility of theft, damage, and/or modification; if a denial, the reason for the denial; if more time is required, then the Township shall follow the procedures set forth under the Right to Know Law. You may be required to pay a fee or fees as set forth here below.
Fees
You will be required to remit fees to the Township for the costs of your requests. These may include twenty five cents per copy per page per side. The certification of a record cost is one dollar per record. Specialized documents such as blue prints, color copies, non-standard sized documents, and the like, shall cost the actual amount for the reproduction. If you would like to have documents mailed to you, the cost of postage will also be assessed. If your request will amount to one hundred dollars ($100.00) or more, you will be required to remit the fees in advance. For a list of all other fees, visit online at the Pennsylvania Right to Know website under FEES.
Inspection, Retrieval, and Duplication
After the Open Records Officer has communicated to you with regard to your request and fees, you can make arrangements with regard to inspection, retrieval and duplication of any and all documents that are deemed to be public records. If your request does not require any special handling, then the documents can be viewed and/or duplicated at the Municipal Building during established business days and hours, with the exception of any days that the building may be closed. The Open Records Officer will work with you concerning any request that may require special viewing and/or duplication for any reason, including but not necessarily limited to the size and/or volume of the documents requested.
Information Regarding Appeals
You must file an appeal within 15 business days of the Township's response or writing 15 business days of a deemed denial.
You may file an appeal in writing if your written request is denied or deemed denied by the Township.
Send the appeal to:
Eric Arneson, Executive Director, Office of Open Records
333 Market Street, 16th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17101-2234.
Phone: (717)346-9903
Fax: (717)425-5343
Email: openrecords@pa.gov
When a request is denied as seeking exempt criminal investigative records of a local agency, appeals may be filed within 15 business days of the agency's response with:
Northampton County District Attorney's Office
669 Washington Street
Easton, PA 18042
Phone: (610)829-6630
Fax: (610)559-3035
Website: www.northamptoncounty.org
Your written Appeal must state the grounds upon which you, the requester, assert that the record(s) requested is/area public record(s), and you shall state the grounds that the Township has stated for delaying or denying your request.
Enactment
The Township intends that this Policy shall implement the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law and if any aspect of the Policy is not consistent or is not included herein, then the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law controls. This policy has been duly enacted by the Board of Supervisors of Allen Township by means of Resolution 2008-011. (updated 16jan19)
Documents
Administration
