Right to Know (Open Records)

Open Records Policy

Falls Township adopts this policy pursuant to Section 504(a) of the Right-to-Know Law, 65 P.S. §§ 67.101-67.3104 (“RTKL”) as of January 1, 2009.

Open Records Officer Contact Information

John Shepherd, Township Manager and Open Records Officer

Email: admin@fallstwp.com – Phone: 215-949-9001

Christopher Clark – Police Department Open Records Officer

Email: fallsrecords@fallstwppd.com – Phone: 215-302-3315 – Fax: 215-949-9106

Falls Township – 188 Lincoln Highway, Fairless Hills, PA 19030

Requests

Requestors should submit in writing using Falls Township’s Right-to-Know form or the RTKL Uniform Request Form available on the Agency website and be addressed to the Open Records Officer by fax, electronic mail, regular mail or in person.  The Falls Township Municipal building is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  When filling out the request, please be as specific and concise as possible.  Make sure you are seeking records, not asking questions.  The law governs the release of records, not answering questions.  Not all records are public records.  Please refer to Section 708 – Exceptions for Public Records.

Response

The Township upon receipt of a request shall make a good faith effort to determine if the record requested is a public record and whether the Township has possession, custody or control of the identified record and to respond as promptly as possible under the circumstances existing at the time of the request.  Please refer to Section 901 – General Rule.

The Township has five business days to respond to your request.  The clock starts the day after the request was received by the Open Records Officer.  If received after regular business hours, the request shall be deemed received on the next business day. The Township will respond in writing to: 1) grant the request, 2) deny the request (citing the legal basis for denial/partial denial) or 3) invoke a 30-day extension for certain reasons. Please refer to Section 902 – Extension of Time.  If the Township does not respond to your request in the allotted time, the request is deemed denied, and you have the right to file an appeal with the Office of Open Records.

Fees

Section 1307 of the Right-To-Know Law (RTKL) requires the Office of Open Records (OOR) to establish a fee structure for Commonwealth agencies and local agencies. The RTKL requires the OOR to review the fee structure biannually.

The fee schedule can be found at www.openrecords.pa.gov

Appeals Process

If the Township denies a record, or a portion of a record, the requestor can file an appeal with the Office of Open Records within 15 business days of the mailing date of the Township’s response. 

All appeals must be made in writing and must be submitted to the Office of Open Records within 15 business days from the mailing date of the Agency's response or the date that the request was deemed denied. If that timeframe expires before you provide the required information to the OOR, you lose your right to appeal and may need to file a new RTK request with the Agency.

Please visit https://www.openrecords.pa.gov/Appeals/HowToFile.cfm for all the details.