The state Office of Open Records has ordered the state Department of Education to release the emails of acting state Education Secretary Carolyn Dumaresq, granting an appeal that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette filed.

The office issued its final determination Friday. The department has 30 days to appeal to Commonwealth Court.

On Aug. 5, the Post-Gazette and two of its reporters, Mary Niederberger and Bill Schackner, asked for all of the acting secretary’s emails “as they pertain to the performance of her duties” since she was appointed on Aug. 25, 2013.

The request came after Ms. Dumaresq cited a department practice of purging emails each evening as the reason her department released only five emails authored by Ron Tomalis, the governor’s special adviser on higher education, during his first year in the position. Mr. Tomalis resigned in August.

In an Aug. 25 interview, Ms. Dumaresq told the Post-Gazette that 700 emails were gathered and were being reviewed in response to the Right-to-Know request.

However, on Sept. 11, the department denied the request saying it was “insufficiently specific.”

Represented by attorney Frederick Frank, the Post-Gazette appealed to the Office of Open Records.

In a decision written by appeals officer Benjamin Lorah, the office stated that the request is “sufficiently specific because it identifies the subject matter as the emails related to the acting secretary’s duties, identifies responsive records as the acting secretary’s emails and seeks records for a defined period of time.”

Saying he is pleased the office recognized the validity of the Post-Gazette’s request, Mr. Frank said, “We hope the Department of Education would now produce the documents without further litigation.”

Tim Eller, spokesman for the state Department of Education, said the department is “evaluating its appeal options.”

The Tomalis controversy brought to light the state’s policy of encouraging public employees to reduce the number of emails nightly, with such deleted emails backed up for only five days on state servers before being permanently removed. The Post-Gazette, joined by other newspapers, has filed a lawsuit that was heard in Commonwealth Court last week. A decision is pending.

Education writer Eleanor Chute: echute@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1955.

First Published: October 28, 2014, 4:00 a.m.