Home > Departments & Services > Police Department > Pennsylvania Right to Know Act
Email a link to this pagePrint this page
Text Size: A A A

Pennsylvania Right to Know Act

  • The Department shall comply with the requirements of the Pennsylvania Right to Know Act (Act 3 of 2008), 65 P.S. Sections 67.101, et seq.
  • The Chief of Police shall designate the Lieutenant as the Opens Records Officer to assure compliance with this policy and disseminate records to the public appropriately.
  • Requests for public records are available, with the appropriate, fee in person from the Upper Southampton Township Police Department Records Division, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, excluding holidays or extenuating circumstances. Records may also be requested by mail, with the appropriate fee included, and a self-addressed stamped envelope.
  • All records requests shall be made on the Departments Reports/Visual Media Request Form.
  • Under the "Right to Know Law," investigative reports are exempted from the definition of a "public record," therefore any such request will be denied.
  • Criminal History information is not accessible under the "Right to Know Law."
  • Unless a charge of juvenile delinquency is transferred for criminal prosecution under section 6355 of the Juvenile Act, or the court otherwise orders, the records and files of a juvenile shall not be open to public inspection or their contents disclosed to the public.
  • The Chief of Police or the Open Records Officer will make a good faith effort to determine if the record(s) requested is a public record and respond within five (5) business days of the request.
  • If a request for records is granted, the following fee schedule will apply:
    1. Incident Reports - $0.25 per page
    2. Non-Reportable Accident Reports - $10.00
    3. Reportable Accident Reports - $15.00
    4. Photographs (4 Photos per page on 8½" x 11" plain paper) - $15.00
    5. Photographs/Video on CD or DVD - $50.00
    6. Postage Fee - Actual cost of mailing requested records
    7. Records Certification - $5.00 per record
  • There shall be no limitation on the number of public records which may be requested or made available for inspection or duplication. Fees will be assessed on a per copy basis.
  • There shall be no requirement to disclose the purpose or motive in requesting access to records which are considered public.
  • If a records request is denied, any fee collected shall be returned to the requestor. The requestor shall be informed of the reason for the denial and of the appeal process.
  • Contact information for the Department's open-records officer:

    Upper Southampton Township Police Department
    Attn: Open Records Officer
    939 Street Road
    Southampton, PA  18966
    Phone# - 215-364-5000

  • Contact information for open records appeals:

    Bucks County District Attorney's Office
    Attn: Open Records Appeal Officer
    55 East Court Street, 4th Floor
    Doylestown, PA  18901
    Phone# - 215-348-6344