Acting as the state’s chief law enforcement officer, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General (OAG) has a wide range of responsibilities to protect and serve the citizens and agencies of the Commonwealth, one of which can be representing the Commonwealth or its agencies in civil litigation. 

Unfortunately, recent Federal interpretation of our Commonwealth Attorneys Act (CAA) has led to the allowance of expanded discovery against nonparty Commonwealth agencies, with Federal courts overlooking the fact that the OAG does not always represent these agencies in civil litigation. While the CAA grants the OAG the authority to sue on its own behalf, this misinterpretation has led to defendants engaging in the tactic of overwhelming the OAG and state agencies with discovery requests, even if those agencies are not parties to the lawsuit. This causes undue stress on both the OAG and our state agencies, overloading already-strained offices with tens, if not hundreds, of requests for documentation.

To address this issue, our bill would add the definition for “right to access” to Section 102 (Definitions) of the CAA, clarifying who has access to state agency records.  This definition ensures that the right to access books and papers in Section 208 (Books and Papers) of the CAA does not include access for the purpose of satisfying discovery requests put forth by defendants in a civil action, unless the agency in question is an actual party to the action and is being represented by the OAG.

This simple, straightforward change to the CAA is necessary to protect the OAG and non-party state agencies from exhaustive requests for discovery in civil litigation.  Please join us in co-sponsoring this legislation.