IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Lindsay P. Shuler, :

Petitioner :

:

v. : No. 237 C.D. 2016

: SUBMITTED: September 2, 2016

Pennsylvania Department of :

Corrections, :

Respondent :

BEFORE: HONORABLE P. KEVIN BROBSON, Judge 

HONORABLE JULIA K. HEARTHWAY, Judge

HONORABLE DAN PELLEGRINI, Senior Judge

OPINION NOT REPORTED

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BY JUDGE HEARTHWAY FILED: November 1, 2016

Lindsay P. Shuler (Requester), an inmate housed in SCI-Pittsburgh, 

petitions for review from the Office of Open Records’ (OOR) final determination 

that upheld the Department of Corrections’ (DOC) response as to records requested 

under the Right-to-Know Law (RTKL).1 Requester sought policies regarding access

to medical records. OOR concluded the attorney work-product privilege protected

the record DOC identified. Requester argues OOR erred by declining to review the 

record in camera. He also asserts DOC did not establish the nonexistence of records 

responsive to his request. Upon review, we affirm as to the privilege; however, we 

remand to OOR to address the existence of other responsive records.

 

1 Act of February 14, 2008, P.L. 6, 65 P.S. §§67.101-67.3104.
2

I. Background

Requester submitted a two-part request seeking: 

(1) [DOC] Policy/ Procedure, “An inmate must be 

representing themselves [sic] in an actual litigation to be 

permitted to obtain copies and/or review their [sic] ‘Mental 

Health Records and/or Records (General)’ pursuant to DC108;” [and,] 

(2) [DOC] Policy/ Procedure, “Before an inmate can receive 

copies of their [sic] ‘Mental Health Records and/or Records 

(General);’ they [sic] must provide: [(i)] name of the court; 

[(ii)] name of the case; and [(iii)] case number that they [sic] 

are representing themselves in.” 

Certified Record (C.R.) at Item No. 1 (Request). Requester appended to the 

Request a copy of the DOC form he used to authorize release of information, and 

DOC’s response, including the quoted passages above. DOC submitted a timely 

response stating, “Items 1 and 2 of your Request implicate the DC-ADM 003 

Release of Information Procedures Manual [(Manual)] and are denied for the 

following reasons,” citing the security exceptions,2and the investigative exceptions 

in the RTKL.

3

Id. (Response) (emphasis added). Requester appealed to OOR,

seeking in camera review, and challenging DOC’s possession of responsive 

records. He also contested the applicability of the asserted exceptions.

On appeal, OOR allowed the parties to submit additional information. 

DOC submitted a position statement regarding “[the Request] which sought, inter 

 

2 DOC cited the personal security exception in Section 708(b)(1)(ii) of the RTKL, 65 P.S. 

§ 67.708(b)(1)(ii), and the public safety exception in Section 708(b)(2) of the RTKL, 65 P.S. § 

67.708(b)(2).

3 DOC cited the criminal investigative exception in Section 708(b)(16) of the RTKL, 65 

P.S. § 67.708(b)(16), and the noncriminal investigative exception in Section 708(b)(17) of the 

RTKL, 65 P.S. § 67.708(b)(17).
3

alia, the [Manual] for [DOC] Policy DC ADM 003 (Release of Information).” 

C.R., Item No. 3. Specifically, DOC explained “the Manual is a guidance 

document protected by the attorney work product doctrine,” and submitted a 

declaration of Deputy Chief Counsel Elizabeth Pettis in support. Id. The position 

statement noted OOR repeatedly held the Manual exempt as attorney work product. 

It also explained the DOC Policy Statement for DC ADM 003 is publicly available, 

and available “to inmates at their respective institution’s libraries.” Id. In her 

declaration, Pettis attested to the characteristics of the Manual and its creation by 

counsel “to provide legal guidance on various release-of-information issues with 

which [DOC] is regularly presented.” Id. She also attested the Manual consists of 

legal impressions and opinions. Neither the position statement nor the declaration 

addressed the exceptions DOC asserted in its Response. 

In its final determination, based on DOC’s submission, OOR

concluded DOC submitted sufficient evidence to establish the Manual was exempt. 

OOR did not review the Manual in camera. Requester filed a petition for review.

II. Discussion

Under the RTKL, records in possession of a Commonwealth agency 

like DOC are presumed public unless they are: (1) exempt under Section 708(b) of 

the RTKL; (2) protected by privilege; or (3) exempt “under any other Federal or 

state law or regulation or judicial order or decree.” Section 305 of the RTKL, 65 

P.S. § 67.305. “Privilege,” as defined in the RTKL, includes the attorney workproduct doctrine. Section 102 of the RTKL, 65 P.S. § 67.102. The burden of 

proving applicability of a privilege to responsive records rests on the agency. 

Dep’t of Educ. v. Bagwell, 131 A.3d 638 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2016). 
4

Requester challenges the sufficiency of DOC’s response, in particular, 

the existence of responsive records. He acknowledges DOC submitted evidence 

that “the [responsive] records implicate the [Manual] (but did not attest that the 

records are in their [sic] possession or exist within their [sic] agency) ....” He also 

contends OOR erred in not “conduct[ing] ‘in camera review’ of the requested 

records.” Pet. for Review at 5. Requester emphasizes DOC failed to demonstrate 

whether “the specifics of the requested documents actually exist within [DOC].” 

Pet’r’s Br. at 5. Requester also notes DOC did not raise the work-product privilege

in its Response. Before addressing the sufficiency of DOC’s Response, we 

consider whether OOR erred in declining to conduct in camera review of the 

Manual. 

In Camera Review

In Office of Open Records v. Center Township, 95 A.3d 354 (Pa. 

Cmwlth. 2014) (en banc), this Court upheld the Office of Open Records’ [OOR]

authority to conduct in camera review. However, we did not mandate OOR to 

conduct such review whenever requested to do so. While recognizing that in 

camera review offers OOR a vital tool for discerning the application of attorney 

privileges, our recent decisional law reflects OOR exercises discretion in developing

the evidentiary record. See Twp. of Worcester v. Office of Open Records, 129 A.3d 

44, 59 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2016) (declining to set parameters on when OOR may elect to 

review records in camera).

As the initial fact-finder, an appeals officer considers procedural 

matters, including development of the record. Bagwell v. Dep't of Educ., 76 A.3d 

81 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2013) (en banc). “In the ordinary course of RTKL proceedings,
5

[receipt of evidence] will occur at the appeals officer stage and a reviewing court 

will defer to the findings of the appeals officer.” Levy v. Senate of Pa., 94 A.3d 

436, 442 (Pa. Cmwlth.), appeal denied, 106 A.3d 727 (Pa. 2014) (Levy III). 

Here, OOR received a declaration to support the work-product 

privilege. Counsel attested the Manual was created by attorneys to provide legal 

advice to her client on various information-release issues under DC ADM 03. 

Counsel also attested that the Manual consisted of legal impressions and opinions. 

At the core of the work-product doctrine is that “attorneys need a 

certain degree of privacy, free from unnecessary intrusion by opposing parties and 

their counsel.” Commonwealth v. Kennedy, 876 A.2d 939, 945 (Pa. 2005) (quoting 

Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, 510–11 (1947)). In the RTKL context, we hold 

the work-product doctrine protects the “mental impressions, theories, notes, 

strategies, research and the like created by an attorney in the course of his or her 

professional duties ...” from disclosure. Levy III, 94 A.3d at 443. “[T]o the extent 

material constitutes an agency’s work product, it is not subject to compulsory 

public disclosure pursuant to the RTKL.” In re Thirty–Third Statewide 

Investigating Grand Jury, 86 A.3d 204, 225 (Pa. 2014) (citation omitted).

Declarations containing sufficient detail are adequate to establish 

privilege. See Heavens v. Dep’t of Envtl. Prot., 65 A.3d 1069 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2013). 

The declaration here shows the privilege applies to the Manual. Thus, in camera

review of the Manual was not necessary to develop an adequate record for our 

review of the privilege. Accordingly, we decline Requester’s invitation to remand 

to OOR for the purpose of reviewing the Manual in camera. However, this does 

not end our inquiry.
6

Although DOC established the Manual is privileged, and we affirm 

OOR’s final determination in that regard, Requester also challenged the sufficiency 

of DOC’s response and its evidence as to whether other responsive records exist. 

Neither OOR nor DOC addressed this aspect of Requester’s appeal. We do so now.

DOC’s Response

Requester disclaims the adequacy of DOC’s Response when it did not 

attest as to the existence or nonexistence of other requested records. Because DOC 

did not identify responsive records other than the Manual in its Response pursuant 

to Section 903 of the RTKL, 65 P.S. § 67.903, and it appears other responsive 

records exist, including a policy referenced in its submission to OOR, we remand 

so OOR may confirm whether DOC identified all responsive records.

Here, in its Section 903 Response, DOC identified only one record as 

responsive to the Request – the Manual. Indeed, it did not state with any degree of 

specificity whether the Manual was the sole record that was responsive to the 

Request. Instead, DOC stated the Request “implicate[d]” the Manual, and did not 

identify any other records, such as other policies or procedures, that would have 

been responsive. As this Court explained in another matter involving DOC, use of 

the word “implicates” is unclear and fails to identify records responsive to the 

request at issue. See Carey v. Dep’t of Corr. (Pa. Cmwlth., No. 1348 C.D. 2012, 

filed July 3, 2013) (unreported), 2013 Pa. Commw. Unpub. LEXIS 495 (Carey II); 

see also Carey v. Dep’t of Corr., 61 A.3d 367 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2013). 

Under the RTKL, an agency is required to search its records in good 

faith, and determine whether responsive records are public or not. Sections 901, 

903 of the RTKL, 65 P.S. §§ 67.901, 67.903. Further, an agency needs to describe 
7

responsive records with sufficient specificity so that a requester, and any 

subsequent reviewers, may discern whether the asserted exemptions apply to 

protect responsive records. 

In Carey v. Dep’t of Corr., this Court served as the fact-finder, and 

directed DOC to supplement the record regarding its assertion of the security 

exceptions. In so doing, DOC claimed a request “implicate[d] a transfer petition.” 

Carey II, slip op. at 8. Then, DOC proceeded to explain how transfer petitions 

were protected from disclosure. However, the request pertained to release and 

recommitment records, and not a transfer petition. Because DOC did not submit 

sufficient information to clarify whether other records responsive to Carey’s 

request existed, we noted DOC did not substantiate an exemption as to any other 

records responsive to Carey’s request. Therefore, while we held the transfer

petition was exempt, we directed DOC to disclose all other responsive records. Id.

We apply the same rationale, albeit in our appellate capacity, here. 

DOC stated the Request implicated the Manual. DOC did not identify any other 

responsive records in its Section 903 Response. Although Requester repeatedly 

raised a concern that DOC did not substantiate whether requested records existed, 

OOR did not address that part of Requester’s appeal. 

In its submission to OOR, due on the same date as any submission by 

Requester, DOC acknowledged the Request sought the Manual among other 

things, without further explication. For the first time, the declaration and the 

position statement identify another responsive record, namely the Policy Statement 

for DC ADM 003. As that record was not identified in the Section 903 Response, 

and was responsive, we discern merit in Requester’s concern that DOC did not 

address the existence or nonexistence of all of the requested records. 
8

Further, the declaration DOC submitted pertains solely to the Manual, 

as though the Request sought only the Manual and no other records. That is not an 

accurate characterization of the Request. In that manner, DOC did not respond to 

Requester’s actual request, and so did not confirm the existence of any other 

responsive records. See Carey II.

We are mindful that one of the principles underlying the RTKL is to 

allow citizens to scrutinize government activity and increase transparency. SWB 

Yankees LLC v. Wintermantel, 45 A.3d 1029 (Pa. 2012). This would include 

DOC’s compliance with its own policies and procedures. See Owens v. Horn, 684 

A.2d 208 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1996) (holding DOC Code of Ethics regarding conduct of 

its personnel is public under former RTKL).4 Thus, to the extent DOC has policies 

and procedures pertaining to the performance of its functions as a government 

agency, those policies and procedures are subject to mandatory disclosure unless 

exempt.

Accordingly, we remand to OOR to clarify the completeness of 

DOC’s Response by additional evidence if necessary. OOR may opt, as this Court 

did in Carey II, to direct DOC to disclose any other responsive records, including 

the Policy Statement DOC identified subsequent to its Response, and/or to submit 

an affidavit of nonexistence as to any other policies or procedures that relate to the 

subjects specified in the Request. 

 

4 Act of June 21, 1957, P.L. 390, as amended, formerly 65 P.S. §§ 66.1–66.9 (repealed by 

Section 3102 of the RTKL, 65 P.S. § 67.3102).
9

III. Conclusion

For the foregoing reasons, we affirm OOR’s final determination as to 

the privileged nature of the Manual. However, on this record, there is some 

ambiguity as to the existence of other records responsive to the Request, which 

may be subject to disclosure. Thus, we remand to OOR to address that issue.

__________________________________

JULIA K. HEARTHWAY, Judge
IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Lindsay P. Shuler, :

Petitioner :

:

v. : No. 237 C.D. 2016

:

Pennsylvania Department of :

Corrections, :

Respondent :

O R D E R

AND NOW, this 1

st day of November, 2016, the final determination of 

the Office of Open Records (OOR) is AFFIRMED IN PART, as to the Manual, and 

we REMAND to the fact-finder OOR to develop the record as to the existence of 

other responsive records, so as to clarify the completeness of the response 

submitted to Petitioner by Respondent. 

Jurisdiction is relinquished.

__________________________________

JULIA K. HEARTHWAY, Judge