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Prepare now for January 1 compliance, PA Right To Know expert advises (Harrisburg, PA) -- The complexities of the new Pennsylvania Right to Know Law will impact virtually every government agency across the state as well as every corporate, media and private entity seeking access to government information in Pennsylvania today. Governments operating at every level in the Commonwealth - boroughs, townships, cities, counties, and their agencies, as well as other publicly-funded entities, like schools, community colleges, and certain universities receiving state funding now face compliance and regulatory issues arising out of the new law. Signed by Gov. Rendell last February, the law will take full effect on January 1, 2009, but government entities at every level must prepare now to comply with the law, according to one legal expert. "At this point in the process, every government entity should have at least appointed a Records Officer to provide an official contact person for any and all informational requests under the law," Harrisburg Attorney Craig J. Staudenmaier cjstaud@nssh.com recently advised in a seminar on the subject at a Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association meeting in Camp Hill, PA. "Governmental agencies, particularly at the County, Borough, City and Township levels, can anticipate an increase in the volume of citizen inquiries for public information under the new law early next year." Staudenmaier said. "And the emphasis should be on compliance policy right now to avoid what could be quite costly litigation later." Mr. Staudenmaier has played a fundamental role in shaping issues of Right to Know Law in Pennsylvania through representation of various media, individual and business interests before government agencies, as well as his widely recognized successes in litigation before the Commonwealth and Supreme Courts in landmark cases pertaining to media access and public right to know as lead counsel in the successful Penn State University/Paterno and PHEAA cases. "The first step toward compliance," Staudenmaier recommended, "is to make sure a Records Officer is in place now in each government agency to work up the necessary policy and procedures to assure compliance with the law well before the end of the year. It takes time to get staff in place and to develop a compliance program to assure proper response to public inquiries, in keeping with forthcoming guidelines from the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records." Mr. Staudenmaier chairs the Nauman Smith law firm RTK Practice Group, which includes business and corporate attorney J. Stephen Feinour, Esq., sfeinour@nssh.com county and municipal attorney Guy P. Beneventano, Esq., guypbenny@NSSH.com and administrative law and appellate advocacy attorney Lucinda C. Glinn, Esq lcglinn@NSSH.com. Founded in 1871, Nauman, Smith, Shissler & Hall, LLP, is the oldest law firm in continuous existence in Harrisburg. For further information on this subject or about the firm's RTK Practice Group, visit the Nauman Smith Web site at www.nssh.com/rtk, or contact Craig J. Staudenmaier, Esq., at 717.236.3010. Editors note: all NSSH attorneys are available as sources or for comment on this issue. For more information, contact the attorney individually, or Bob Philbin at rphilbin@hersheyphilbin.com .
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