IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Daryl Locke

, : Petitioner :

:

v. : No. 1922 C.D. 2014

: SUBMITTED: April 17, 2015 Philadelphia Clerk of Courts

, : Respondent :

BEFORE: HONORABLE BONNIE BRIGANCE LEADBETTER, Judge

HONORABLE RENÉE COHN JUBELIRER, Judge

HONORABLE PATRICIA A. McCULLOUGH, Judge

OPINION NOT REPORTED

MEMORANDUM OPINION BY

JUDGE LEADBETTER FILED: September 10, 2015

Daryl Locke, an inmate at the State Correctional Institution at

Smithfield

, petitions for review of the final determination of the Office of Open

Records (OOR) that dismissed with prejudice his appeal filed under the Right

- to

Know Law (Law), Act of February 14, 2008, P.L. 6, 65 P.S. § § 67.10 1

- 67.3104

.

OOR concluded that it l ack ed jurisdiction over Locke's request made to the Clerk

of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County (Clerk) for certified copies

of sentencing orders issued in his criminal cases

. We affirm. 1

On September 4, 2014, Locke submitted a request for certified copies

of the sentencing orders issued in his criminal cases. Locke averred that the Clerk

failed to respond to the request within five business days and that the request was

1 By order dated March 31, 2015, this Court precluded the Clerk from filing a brief for

failure to comply with the prior order directing the Clerk to do so.2

therefore deemed denied under Sect ion 901 of the Law, 65 P.S. § 67.901. Locke

filed an appeal with OOR which issued a final determination on September 24,

2014, dismissing his appeal with prejudice. OOR conclud ed that the Clerk is a

"judicial agency" which is not subject to OOR's jurisdiction.

Locke challenges OOR's determination that it lacked jurisdiction over

the Clerk. He argues that sentencing orders are public records subject to disclosure

under the Law

. He asserts that sentencing orders are the only documents

authorizing his confinement and that his confinement would be unlawful without

the sentencing orders . He insists that OOR should have transferred his request to

the proper appeals officer

. Finally, h e claims that the denial of his request violated

his liberty inter est s and due process right s

.

A determination of OOR's jurisdiction requires interpretation of the

statutory language of the Law ; accordingly, our review of OOR's order is plenary.

Bockelman Trucking v. Pa. Prevailing Wage Appeals Bd. , 30 A.3d 6 16, 621 (Pa.

Cmwlth. 2011). OOR designate s an appeals officer to hear disputes for all

Commonwealth agencies and local agencies. Section 503(a) of the Law, 65 P.S. §

67.503(a). By contrast, a "judicial agency

, " not OOR, designates an appeals

officer to hear appeals under Chapter 11 of the Law ( appeal of agency

determination ). Section 503(b) of the Law, 65 P.S. § 67.503( b ). A "judicial

agency" is "[a] court of the Commonwealth or any other entity o r office of the

unified judicial system." Section 102 o f the Law, 65 P.S. § 67.102. Clerks of

court "are personnel of the unified judicial system." League of Women Voters of

Greater Pittsburgh v. Allegheny Cnty. , 819 A.2d 155, 158 n.12 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2003)

(citing Section 102 of the Judicial Code, as amended

, 42 Pa. C.S. § 102). Under

the express terms of the Law, therefore, "judicial agencies, including Clerk, are not3

subject to OOR's jurisdiction." Faulk v. Phila. Clerk of Courts

, 116 A.3d 1183

,

1186 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2015). Hence, OOR properly dismissed Locke' s appeal with

prejudice for lack of j urisdiction.

Moreover, sentencing orders requested by Locke do not qualify as

"public records" under the Law. This Court explained:

The [Law] is not the sole mechanism for obtaining records from judicial agencies. I ndeed, the [Law] offers limited access restricted by its terms to a defined type of records of judicial agencies. Thus, unlike records of Commonwealth or local agencies, where all records in their possession are presumed public, only "financial

records" o f judicial agencies are accessible through the [Law] ....

That sentencing orders do not qualify as "public

records " under the [Law] does not diminish their public nature. Accordingly, although Clerk is not duty

- bound to disclose court records under the [La w], Requester may seek access to court records outside the constraints [the Law's] statutory scheme imposes on access to records of a judicial agency.

Faulk

, 116 A.3d at 1187

- 88 (footnote s and citations omitted; emphasis in original).

Under Section 1101(a) of the Law (relating to filing an appeal), a

requester, not the agency, has the initial onus for properly directing the appeal to

the designated appeals officers. Faulk , 116 A.3d at 1186 . Therefore, OOR did not

violate Locke's due p rocess rights by not transferring his appeal to another appeals

officer. Id. Locke's claim of a liberty interest in the sentencing orders must also be

rejected. As in this case, the requester in Faulk appended the Department of

Corrections' attestation of non

- existence of the sentencing order to his appeal to

argue that he was being improperly incarcerated without a copy of his sentencing

order . In rejecting the argument , this Court stated:

[W]e explained this Court is not in a position to rule on

the l egality of incarceration when [the Department] does4 not have a copy of the sentencing order. ... Similarly, we do not consider the Clerk's alleged refusal to produce a copy of Requester's sentencing order here, and the alleged deprivation of liberty that ca uses. Additionally, the [Law] does not offer a vehicle for collaterally attacking a conviction.

Id. at 1188

.
Accordingly, OOR's final determination is affirmed.

_____________________________________ BONNIE BRIGANCE LEADBETTER, JudgeIN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Daryl Locke, : Petitioner :

:

v. : No. 1922 C.D. 2014

: Philadelphia Clerk of Courts, : Respondent :

O R D E R

AND NOW, this 10th day of September, 201 5 , the final determination

of the Office of Open Records in the above

- captioned matter is AFFIRMED.

_____________________________________ BONNIE BRIG ANCE LEADBETTER, Judge