IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA County of Berks, : : Petitioner : : v. : No. 170 M.D. 2018 : Argued: September 14, 2018 Pennsylvania Office of Open : Records and ALDEA - The : People’s Justice Center, : : Respondents : BEFORE: HONORABLE RENÉE COHN JUBELIRER, Judge HONORABLE CHRISTINE FIZZANO CANNON, Judge HONORABLE JAMES GARDNER COLINS, Senior Judge1 OPINION NOT REPORTED MEMORANDUM OPINION BY SENIOR JUDGE COLINS FILED: January 3, 2019 Before this Court are the preliminary objections filed by the Office of Open Records (OOR) and ALDEA - The People’s Justice Center (ALDEA) to the petition for review filed by the County of Berks (County) asserting two claims in this Court’s original jurisdiction and a third claim seeking that this Court exercise its ancillary jurisdiction pursuant to Section 761(c) of the Judicial Code, 42 Pa. C.S. § 761(c), to conduct an appellate review of the County’s appeal from an OOR Final Determination ruling on a request by ALDEA for records of the County. For the 1 This decision was reached before Senior Judge Colins’ service with the Court ended on December 31, 2018. reasons that follow, we grant OOR’s first and second preliminary objections and ALDEA’s first preliminary objection, dismiss Counts I and II of the petition for review and transfer Count III to the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County. On July 27, 2017, ALDEA filed a request with the County pursuant to the Right-to-Know Law2 (RTKL) identifying six categories of records that it sought from the County related to the Berks County Residential Center (BCRC), an immigrant family detention facility. (OOR Certified Record (C.R.) Item 1.) In Items 1 to 4 of the request, ALDEA sought correspondence concerning complaints by or related to four private attorneys and one paralegal that related to conditions at BCRC. (Id.) In addition, Item 5 of the request sought video recordings of the BCRC visitation area on the evening of May 23, 2017, while Item 6 of the request sought any correspondence between BCRC and any other party regarding the identified attorneys and paralegal. (Id.) On September 22, 2017, the County responded to ALDEA, asserting that it lacked any documents responsive to Items 1, 4 and 5 of the request and that Item 6 of the request was insufficiently specific to allow the County to respond. (C.R. Item 1.) With respect to Items 2 and 3 of the Request, the County stated that, to the extent any such documents existed, they would be exempt from disclosure because they related to a non-criminal investigation, related to internal, pre- decisional deliberations of an agency, were protected by the attorney-client privilege or constituted attorney work product. (Id.) Notwithstanding its responses, the County produced certain records to ALDEA that were not identified as being responsive to any specific item in ALDEA’s request. (Id.) 2 Act of February 14, 2008, P.L. 6, 65 P.S. §§ 67.101-67.3104. 2 ALDEA appealed the County’s failure to produce responsive records to the OOR. (C.R. Item 1.) During the ...
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