Open Records Policy

The City of Philadelphia has adopted a policy to comply with the Commonwealth’s Act 3 of 2008, 65 P.S. §§ 67.101 et seq., commonly known as the Right-to-Know Law. With certain exceptions, members of the public have the right to inspect and/or copy public records upon written request.

1. Definitions

Business day. Monday through Friday 8:30 AM through 5:00 PM, except those days when the City of Philadelphia, the main office of the Law Department, or the office, department, board, or commission to which a request is submitted is closed. For the purpose of this Open Records Policy, City Agencies are closed when any of the following applies:

1. The City, the Law Department, or the particular City Department, Board, Office, or Commission operates on an “essential services only” basis;
2. The City, the main office of the Law Department, or the particular City Department, Board, Office, or Commission is closed for four or more hours during regular business hours; or
3. The City, the main office of the Law Department, or the particular City Department, Board, Office, or Commission closes for any portion of regular business hours on an emergency basis.

Public Record. Any document that satisfies the general definition of “public record” set forth in the Right-to-Know Law and does not fall within any of the exceptions set forth therein, as the definition and exceptions are amended from time to time and as the definition and exceptions are interpreted by state, federal, and/or local courts.

Open Records Officer. An official or employee of the City of Philadelphia officially assigned responsibility for receiving, tracking, and responding to requests for information under the Right-to-Know Law. The City of Philadelphia may designate a Deputy or Secondary Open Records Officer to act in the absence of an Open Records Officer.

Requester. A person who requests a record under the Right-to-Know Law.

Office of Open Records. The State Office, under the Department of Economic and Community Development, as explained in §1310 of the Right-to-Know Law. The Office of Open Records shall be responsible for many duties, including (but not limited to): issuing advisory opinions; training agencies and public employees; assigning appeals officers to review decisions; and conducting a biannual review of fees allowed under the Right-to-Know Law.

2. Open Records Officer

Please see below for the Open Records Officer specific to each City Department, Board, Office, or Commission. If no Open Records Officer is listed, please direct the request to the Open Records Officer for the City Law Department (Office of the City Solicitor). Please indicate the City Department, Board, Office, or Commission the request seeks records from. Please note that some independently elected officials—including the District Attorney’s Office—may have their own separate and distinct policies. You should consult their respective websites for information specific to their offices, including information concerning their respective Open Records Officers.

The City Law Department is not authorized to accept Right-to-Know Requests on behalf of the Philadelphia District Attorney. The Office of the District Attorney maintains a separate Open Records Policy; requests for that office should be directed to the Open Records Officer for the Office of the District Attorney.

• The City Law Department represents the City on all Right-to-Know matters. Requests from lawyers or law firms must be directed to the Open Records Officer for the City Law Department and should indicate the Office, Department, Board and/or Commission the request is seeking records from.
• Audio/Video Records from the Philadelphia Police Department – Requests for audio, visual, or bodycam records from the Philadelphia Police Department must be made in-person or via certified mail following the instructions in 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 67A(3) (aka Act 22). Such requests are not processed under the RTKL. See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 67A(2)(a); 65 P.S. §§ 67.305, 67.3101.1. You may use this form to make a request under Act 22. Requests under this Act should be addressed to: Lieutenant Barry Jacobs, Philadelphia Police Department, Open Records/Right to Know Section, Philadelphia Public Services Building,
  400 N. Broad St., 4W-72, Philadelphia, PA 19130.
• Copies of Public Safety Reports: Copies of public safety records are available outside the RTK process directly from the Department of Records. Please file these according to the instructions online depending on the type of public safety record you seek. General information and specific report request forms are available at: https://www.phila.gov/services/crime-law-justice/get-a-copy-of-a-public-safety-report/
• Specific reports available through this process includes:
  • Traffic accident reports (also known as crash reports). You can get traffic accident reports online by using the online portal at https://crashreports.phila.gov/
  • Police incident or offense reports form https://www.phila.gov/media/20210510104709/application_for_police_incident_or_offense_report_82-47.pdf
  • Fire reports form https://www.phila.gov/media/20210510104714/application_for_fire_82_311.pdf
  • Emergency medical services (EMS) reports form https://www.phila.gov/media/20210726162458/application_for_ems_report_82-311.pdf
  • Police record checkshttps://www.phila.gov/media/20210510104719/police_records_check_request_form_75_343.pdf

  If you are not seeking a Public Safety Report, please direct your request to the appropriate City Open Records Officers:

  City Department, Board, Office, or Commission	Open Records Officer
  Law Department, Office of the City Solicitor

  Phase I Environmental Assessments

  • Transcript Room – search for transcripts for Committee Hearings and Council Sessions
  • Legislation Information Center – public access to City Council bills and resolutions
  • FY2025 Budget Center

  Michael Cooke, Sr. Legislative Counsel & Chief Ethics Officer

  • Online election resources & data such as election results, FAQs, political maps, Election Board training materials, as well as various reports and data
  • Multiple election-related datasets with filter/search/visualization tools at OpenDataPhilly

  Budget Office

  • Find Budgets, Strategic Plans, Monthly Expenditure Reports, Financial Reports, and more

  Office of the Health Commissioner

  • Find Food Safety Inspection Reports
  • Requesting Medical Examiner Records for legal next of kin or other authorized individual
  • Visit StreetSmartPHL for near real-time information related to permits, paving, snow plowing, and daily trash and recycling collections.
  • Detailed property history is publicly searchable online and updated daily (licenses, permits, violations [including fire violations], appeals)
  • A property owner or the owner’s agent may request copies of building plans at the Permit and License Center as described under “Construction permits and plans“
  • Multiple datasets with filter/search/visualization tools at OpenDataPhilly

  Office of Transportation and Infrastructure

  Office of Special Events

  Office of Emergency Management

  • Orders and directives of the Managing Director’s Office
  • Find Phily311 data on all requests submitted since December 2014 with filter/search/visualization tools at OpenDataPhilly
  • Find multiple datasets with filter/search/visualization tools for properties and assessment history as well as tax delinquent properties at OpenDataPhilly
  • Instructions for obtaining Fire Reports outside the RTKL process.
  • Detailed property history of violations (including fire violations) is publicly searchable online and updated daily.
  • Instructions for Police Incident reports, Fire Reports, Police record Checks, Letters of Good Conduct
  • Traffic Accident Reports (aka “crash reports”)
  • Crime Map and Stats available online
  • Multiple datasets with filter/search/visualization tools at OpenDataPhilly
  • Search PHLContracts for bids and solicitations
  • Instructions for obtaining deeds, mortgages, easements, notary commissions, and other recorded records.
  • Multiple datasets with filter/search/visualization tools at OpenDataPhilly including data of all real estate transfers since December 6, 1999.

  Municipal Services Building, 2nd Floor
  (215) 686-6900

  • Search archived press releases
  • Mayoral Executive Orders since 1952

  3. Procedure

  The Right-to-Know Law requires that the City of Philadelphia act upon each non-anonymous written request when such request is made in person, by mail, by fax, or by email. The Right-to-Know Law does not require that the City of Philadelphia act upon an oral request, and the City of Philadelphia shall refuse to accept oral requests. Furthermore, the Right-to-Know Law does not require that the City of Philadelphia act upon an anonymous request, and the City of Philadelphia will refuse to honor an anonymous request. Finally, due to IT security risks, the City of Philadelphia will not accept requests where the details of records sought are submitted exclusively via hyperlink, the nor will responsive records be uploaded to an external hyperlink (outside of phila.gov) prior to advance and express arrangements with the Law Department.

  Pursuant to the Right-to-Know Law, the State Office of Open Records has created and published on its website a standard statewide form, which must be accepted by the City of Philadelphia for filing a request. (https://www.openrecords.pa.gov/RTKL/Forms.cfm).

  Effective February 1, 2012, the City of Philadelphia requires the standard statewide form be used for the submission of Right-to-Know requests, and will not consider a request to be a written request pursuant to the Right-to-Know Law unless the request is submitted on or with the standard statewide form. As of February 1, 2012, the City of Philadelphia considers any request not submitted on or with the standard statewide form to be an informal request not subject to the Right-to-Know Law.[1] If a requester submits a request on or with the standard statewide form after submitting an informal request for the same (or similar) records, the City of Philadelphia will consider the informal request to have been withdrawn. The City of Philadelphia reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to require a written request pursuant to the Right-to-Know Law before releasing records. A copy of the standard statewide form appears at the end of this policy.

  The Right-to-Know Law sets forth various specifications for the contents of a written request. To qualify as a written request under the Right-to-Know Law and the City of Philadelphia Open Records Policy the request must be:

  • Directed to the appropriate Open Records Officer,
  • Submitted on or with the standard statewide form, and
  • Contain at least the following information:
  1. 1. Name of requester;
     2. Contact information of requester (either email address or physical address of requester); and
     3. Records sought, identified, or described with sufficient specificity to allow the City of Philadelphia to ascertain what records are being requested.

     Under the Right-to-Know Law, the City of Philadelphia has a duty to make a good faith effort to determine if the record(s) requested is a public record and to respond as promptly as possible under the circumstances existing at the time of the request; this time shall not exceed five business days from the date the request is received by the relevant Open Records Officer. The Law provides that either a final or interim response be provided to the requester within five business days from the date of receipt by the Department, Board, Office, or Commission. If there is no response within this five-day time period, the Open Records Request is deemed denied.

     The Right-to-Know Law and the City of Philadelphia’s policy contemplates that requesters will receive a response within five business days. The Right-to-Know Law, however, does provide the City of Philadelphia with specific reasons that may be invoked to receive a single extension of time that shall not exceed 30 calendar days. If the 30 th calendar day falls on a day when the City of Philadelphia is closed, the deadline will be the following business day.

     If an extension is asserted and no response is provided to the requester within the 30-day time period, the Open Records Request is deemed denied. Additionally, if the City of Philadelphia notifies the requester it needs more than the maximum 30-day extension, the request is deemed denied unless the requester has agreed in writing to an extension to the date specified in the notice. If the requester agrees to the extension, the request shall be deemed denied on the day following the date specified in the notice if a response is not provided by that date.

     The City of Philadelphia’s final response to a request will:

     • Grant the request;
     • Deny the request;
     • Grant the request in part and deny the request in part; or
     • Grant the request and redact part of the information provided pursuant to the Right-to-Know Law and/or other applicable federal, state, and local law.

     4. Appeals of Denied Requests

     If a request for access to a record is denied (in whole or in part) or deemed denied, the requester may file an appeal within 15 business days of the mailing date of the City of Philadelphia’s denial as follows:

     Records Other Than Criminal Investigative Records

     Appeals of denials related to requests for records other than criminal investigative records must be directed to the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records:

     Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
     Office of Open Records
     333 Market St., 16 th Fl
     Harrisburg, PA 17101

     Criminal Investigative Records

     Appeals of denials related to requests for criminal investigative records must be directed to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office within 15 business days of the mailing date of the City of Philadelphia’s denial. Appeals to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office should be directed to the following address: District Attorney’s Office, Civil Litigation Unit, Open Records Appeals Officer, Three South Penn Square, Philadelphia, PA 19107-3499.

     For All Administrative Appeals

     Unless the requester agrees otherwise, the Appeals Officer shall make a final determination which shall be mailed to the requester and the City of Philadelphia within 30 days of receipt of the appeal. Should the Appeals Officer fail to issue a ruling within 30 days, the appeal is deemed denied.

     Before a final determination is issued, a hearing may be held. The determination by the Appeals Officer shall be a final order. The Appeals Officer shall provide a written explanation of the reasons for the decision to the requester and the City of Philadelphia.

     Within 30 days of the mailing date of the final determination of the Appeals Officer, a requester or the City of Philadelphia may file a petition for review or other document(s) as required by rule of court with the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

     6. Fees and Charges

     Fees for duplication of records have been established and posted by the State Office of Open Records. The City of Philadelphia will charge fees consistent with the State Office of Open Records regulations.

     The City of Philadelphia reserves the right to impose additional fees if it incurs costs for complying with a request, pursuant to the Right-to-Know Law; such additional fees, when charged, must be reasonable. This includes, but is not limited to, fees for enhanced electronic access and certified copies of documents.

     7. Written Policies and Regulations

     The City of Philadelphia and each Open Records Officer shall retain the discretion and authority to adopt any other written policies that are consistent with the Right-to-Know Law, and these policies, as amended from time to time, that they deem to be necessary or prudent, consistent with the Right-to-Know Law.