OOR Rejects Anonymous FOIA Buddy RTKL Request

In Curry v. South Western School District, AP 2024-1311, the Office of Open Records denied an appeal by Frank Curry and FOIA Buddy, which have been sending RTKL requests to agencies around the state, on the basis that the requests were anonymous and the school district did not have to respond. The OOR noted that the school district highlighted FOIA Buddy’s proxy function option, promptly notified the requester of its concerns, and had a policy that anonymous requests will not be fulfilled.   

As reported last week, townships should review their RTKL policies and include language prohibiting anonymous requests and requiring that requests be submitted on the Office of Open Records request form. Here is a sample policy.