E-mails are not public records under the state’s Right-to-Know Law simply because they were sent or received through a government agency’s e-mail address or because they are housed on a government computer, a divided Commonwealth Court ruled in an apparent case of first impression.
That is the case even if the government agency has a policy requiring the government computers only be used for work purposes, the court said. It had to review case law from a number of other states on the issue given the court has never addressed the question.
