In 2019, Requesters filed a Right to Know Law (RTKL) request with the Office of General Counsel (OGC), seeking any “applications submitted to OGC for one vacancy on the Commonwealth Court”. OGC denied the request, and Requesters appealed to the Office of Open Records (OOR), which granted the appeal, in part, and denied it, in part. OGC appealed to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. The Court affirmed the OOR’s order to the extent that it rejected OGC’s claim that the requested records were exempt under Sections 708(b)(7)(iv) and 708(b)(10)(i) of the RTKL. The Court vacated the portion that ordered OGC to provide Requesters with the applications of the individuals who were not selected for the judicial vacancy appointment. The Court remanded and instructed OOR to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to third parties and to perform the balancing test required by Pa. State Educ. Ass’n v. Dep’t of Cmty. & Econ. Dev., 148 A.3d 142 (Pa. 2016).
