As surely as spring brings the first robin, it is also bringing a new wave of anonymous Right-To-Know (RTK) requests. Many townships and municipalities are receiving automated anonymous RTK requests and many are not on the Office of Open Records’ standard request form. The latest wave appears to originate from https://govrecordrequest.com/, which appears to be similar in design to FOIA Buddy. 

How should townships respond? The state Office of Open Records (OOR) advises townships to review their policies for requirements that requests must be on the OOR’s Standard Right-to-Know Law Request Form, which was updated last year in light of anonymous requests.   

Among other changes, this form is now two pages and includes a required checkbox affirming that the provided name and contact information is accurate and that the requester is a legal resident of the U.S. If a request is not on the standard Right-to-Know Form or the form is incomplete and missing name and contact information, the request can be denied.  

Township policies should also address anonymous RTK requests, which are not required to be accepted under current law. It’s considered a “best practice” to have a township RTK policy. Recently, OOR issued guidance stating that an anonymous entity may not meet the legal definition of a “requester,” which is defined as an identified “person that is a legal resident of the United States.” If your township does not have an updated open records policy, consider adopting one. You can click here to download the Word version of a sample policy developed by PSATS, which can be edited for your township and adopted by motion.   

If your township adopts a policy that 1) requires open records request be submitted on the Standard RTKL Request Form and 2) against accepting anonymous requests, this policy should be prominently posted on your website, if you have one, and posted along with other notices. Regardless of whether you respond to the request or not, document the request and your decision.