Open Records - Public Agencies

Agency’s that Must Allow Public Access to Records (65 P.S. § 66.1(1))

The Pennsylvania Right to Know Act applies to certain documents of certain public agencies. An “agency” is defined as any department, board or commission of the executive branch of Commonwealth government, any political subdivision of the Commonwealth, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission or any State or municipal authority or similar organization which performs essential government functions.

Examples of agencies covered by the Act include:

• public school districts
• townships
• county governments
• zoning boards
• the governor of Pennsylvania
• universities belonging to the state system of higher education (such as Millersville University and West Chester State University, but not state-related universities like Penn State or Temple University)
• Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency
• Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
• non-profit corporations if they are deemed to be agencies by Pennsylvania statute (for example, non-profit corporations that lease property with rental values in excess of $1,500,000 to the Commonwealth). This is very rare.

Examples of entities that are not within the definition of "agency" include:

• private groups and businesses
• state-related universities (not owned by the state)
• community colleges
• non-profit agencies
• any non-government related entity that does not perform an essential government function