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Section 708. Exceptions for public records. (1) The burden of proving that a record of a Commonwealth agency or local agency is exempt from public access shall be on the Commonwealth agency or local agency receiving a request by a preponderance of the evidence.

Under the Right-To-Know Law, all records are presumed to be public records unless disclosure is barred by: (1) state or federal law or regulation; (2) judicial order; (3), privilege, e.g., attorney-client or doctor-patient; or (4) one of the exceptions in Section 708 of the Right-to-Know Law.

A summary of the exceptions follows: 1. LOSS OF FUNDS/PERSONAL SECURITY: Records that, if disclosed, would result in the loss of federal or state funds. Also, records whose release would be reasonably likely to result in substantial and demonstrable risk of physical harm to a person or to his or her personal security.

What is Right-to-Know Law (RTKL)? Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law (RTKL) was designed to increase transparency in the government's decision-making and activities. The RTKL generally provides public access to the records of Commonwealth agencies, local agencies, courts, and legislative agencies.

Under the current RTKL, all state and local government agency records are presumed to be public. This means that if an agency wants to withhold a record, it must prove that it is entitled to do so under the RTKL, another law or regulation, privilege (such as attorney-client privilege), or court order.

Pennsylvania's Right to Know laws give the public access to the public records of government agencies. The Department of the Auditor General's Right to Know (RTK) policy can be found here. Please keep in mind that submitting a Right to Know request is different from simply asking for information.