Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Bucks County is fighting a news organization’s request to obtain a copy of emergency plans for the county correctional facility.
Joseph Darius Jaafari, a reporter with statewide news organization PA Post, of which LevittownNow.com is an affiliate, filed a Right-to-Know request with the county seeking “pandemic or emergency preparedness plans or policy for the jail” as part of statewide reporting.
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Bucks County’s open records unit denied the request days after it was submitted in March amid the coronavirus pandemic. The county claimed releasing the information would threaten public safety and security at the jail in Doylestown Township.
Jaafari ended up filing an appeal with the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records in April.
The state open records office released a decision in June that required the county to provide the records to the reporter within 30 days.
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In a court filing appealing the decision, Bucks County officials are asking asking a judge to rule on the matter. In their filing, the county said it is “resolute” that disclosing the jail emergency plan “would jeopardize or threaten public safety of the Bucks County Correctional Facility and, by extension, the citizens of Bucks County.”
Included in the lawsuit are affidavits from Deputy Director of the Bucks County Department of Corrections David Kratz and Bucks County Emergency Services Director Scott Forster that state that releasing the details would be dangerous. Forster stated that the county correctional facility would have “no way to control” how the plans were safe guarded or protected.
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As LevittownNow.com has exclusively reported, the county lockup has seen a number of COVID-19 cases among inmates and staff.
PA Post reported that other counties have released their policies dealing with situations like a pandemic.
The statewide news organization reported they are preparing a response to the county’s decision to fight release of the plans.
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The county declined comment on the issue.
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