Jan 9, 2015 2 min read

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A veteran Pennsylvania Senate aide who played a leading role in rewriting the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law was named Friday to take over as head of the state Office of Open Records.

Gov. Tom Corbett announced the agency’s next executive director is Erik Arneson, succeeding Terry Mutchler. Mutchler said she was leaving to run a “transparency practice” at the Philadelphia-based law firm Pepper Hamilton LLP.

Arneson has been communications and policy director for Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, since 2005, a job that included serving as spokesman for the Republican caucus. His new position, expected to be formalized early next week, carries a six-year term and pays $140,000 a year.

Arneson, 43, lives in Cornwall, attended Temple University and once worked for about three years as a reporter at the Lebanon Daily News.

Pileggi, then the Senate majority leader, sponsored the Right-to-Know Law overhaul that took effect in January 2009, broadening public access to government records and information and establishing the Office of Open Records. Arneson and another Pileggi aide played the primary role in the nuts-and-bolts process of writing and revising the legislation.

Arneson said his priorities include getting regulatory approval of the agency’s regulations and improving its social media and website.

The Office of Open Records handles appeals involving a wide section of government for people who have been denied access to records, conducts training and had other duties. Its website provides details about access disputes it is handling, as well as those currently in the court system.

“The cases just get more complicated,” Arneson told reporters. “All the easy decisions have been made and settled.”

At a Capitol news conference to announce her departure, Mutchler described the six-plus years she spent in the job as the most satisfying professional experience of her life.

“Pennsylvania has seen the release of hundreds of thousands of records it would have not have seen without the Office of Open Records,” Mutchler said.

Mutchler was appointed by Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, and her six-year term expired in April. She said Friday she was never told whether Republican Corbett planned to reappoint her. Arneson’s appointment does not require Senate confirmation.

Arneson said he was first approached about a month ago to see if he had interest in the job, and then had an interview with Corbett for about 40 minutes earlier this week.