From the Legal Hotline

By Teri Henning, General Counsel; Melissa Melewsky, Media Law Counsel
Pennsylvania Newspaper Association

Q: I am trying to get police blotters and press releases from several months ago from my local police department. The officer in charge of records refuses to provide copies because it is their policy to keep blotters and press releases on public display in the office for one week and after that, they are filed and become non-public. The police say this policy is necessary and legal because they do not have the time or the resources to locate old blotters and press releases. Can they do that?

A: No. The Criminal History Records Information Act (CHRIA), 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 9101, et seq., and interpreting case law make certain police records public.

The CHRIA specifically defines police blotters, court dockets and press releases as public records. In Tapco, Inc. v. Township of Neville, 695 A.2d 460 (Pa.Cmwlth.1997), the Commonwealth Court also declared that police incident reports are police blotters and as such, are public records pursuant to the CHRIA. The CHRIA does not contain any provision limiting access to these types of public records.

However, police departments can take the time allotted by the Right to Know Law (RTKL) in which to respond to a request for access because the Tapco court also held that that Right to Know Law extends to all documents specifically defined as public records in other statutes. Requestors can use the methods prescribed by the RTKL to request access to these records and agencies must comply with requests within the time limits set by the RTKL.

To the extent that the police blotters and press releases are readily available, they must be made accessible for inspection and copying during regular business hours. To the extent that police blotters and press releases are not readily available, the police department is required to provide access within the time limits set forth by the RTKL, generally within 5 business days.

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