OOR Office of Open Records  HOWTO FILE AN APPEAL  Ifyou submit a Right-to-Know request to a state or local agency in Pennsylvania and your request is denied, you can file an appeal with the Office of Open Records. There is no fee, and you do not need an attorney. All appeals must be made in writing and must be: submitted to the Office of Open Records within 15 business days from the mailing date of the Agency's response or the date that the request was deemed denied. Ifthat timeframe expires before you provide the required information to the OOR, you lose your rightt to  appeal and may need toi file a new RTKI request with the Agency.  The Best Way to Submit an Appeal to the OOR  The simplest and best way to prepare an appeal is to use the online version of the official OOR Appeal The OOR Appeal Form can be used to appeal full denials, partial denials, and deemed denials (i.e., when the agency doesn't respond by the deadline), as well as to appeal any fees being charged by the agency. To file an appeal under the Right-to-know Law, a requester must provide all of the following:  Form.,  Acopy of the RTK request. Agency didn'tr respond at all).  Acopy of the Agency's response (or a notation that the request was' 'deemed denied," meaning the Awritten statement explaining the grounds on which the requester asserts that the record is a public Awritten statement addressing any grounds stated by the agency for denying the request. Using the online version of the official OOR Appeal Form will walk you through the process, step by step. The OOR will not docket appeals or respond to requests where the OOR has reason to believe that a  record.  requester's identity is anonymous or has been mispresented to the OOR.  Alternative Ways to Submit an Appeal to the OOR  The OOR strongly recommends that appeals be submitted through the online version of the official OOR Ift that's not possible, the OOR also accepts appeals via email, fax, postal mail, and in-person submission. Appeals submitted via email should be attached as a Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or PDF file. Email Attachment Formats: Appeals filed via email mayi include PDF, Microsoft Word (doc, docx, or rtf), Microsoft Excel (xls or xlsx), and image file (ipg, png, gif or tiff) attachments. Ifan appeal to be filed via email des an attachment ofany other format, call the Office of Open Records (717-346-9903) before. sending it.  Appeal Form.  rformats may be rejected by Commonwealth: servers.    Email Attachment Filesize: Ifan appeal to be filed via e-mail includes an attachment exceeding 4MB, call the Office of Open Records (717-346-9903) before. sending it. Attachments exceeding 4MB may be rejected by  Commonwealth: servers.  Appeals may also be submitted via fax (717-425-5343) or postal mail:  Office of Open Records 333 Market Street, 16th Floor Harrisburg, PA 17101-2234  In-person submissions are accepted at the Office of Open Records, 333 Market Street, 16th Floor, Harrisburg, The deadline for an appeal submitted electronically (email or fax) is 11:59:59 p.m. on the 15th business day from the mailing date of the Agency's response or the date that the request was deemed denied. For in-person submissions and: submissions via postal mail, the deadline is 5:00 p.m. on the 15th business day.  PA, during normal business hours.  About Appeals of "Deemed Denied" Requests  When an agency does not respond to you in writing within five business days ofy your written RTKI request, the request is considered to be' "deemed denied."Ifa an agency did not respond, please indicate this when you file  an appeal.  What Happens After You File an Appeal  When the Office of Open Records receives an appeal, a docket number is assigned, an Appeals Officer is assigned, and both the requester and the agency are sent a letter containing important information about the Ab binding Final Determination will be issued pursuant to the timeline required by the RTKL. In most cases, that  appeal process.  means within 30 calendar days.