In 1989, Terry Mutchler, a cub reporter at the Allentown Morning Call, used a leaked police report to write about domestic abuse by a decorated Allentown police officer. She was sued in federal court and faced six months in jail for refusing to give up her source, before being vindicated in a case that reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nineteen years later, Ms. Mutchler is becoming the first director of Pennsylvania's Office of Open Records, the agency created in February to help people get access to government information.

The East Stroudsburg, Monroe County, native has run a similar office for Illinois government since 2004 and hopes to bring that experience to bear here.

"The beautiful part about Pennsylvania's law is the presumption is everything is on the table, unless there is a reason to withhold it. I think that is a really strong and good place to start," she said.

The open records law approved in February basically says that all local and state records will be public, unless specifically exempted. Agencies will have five days to comply with requests and have the responsibility for explaining why documents should be shielded. The previous law placed the burden on citizens to demonstrate why a record should be public.

Disputes over records will go to the director of the Office of Open Records, a position Ms. Mutchler will take over, for a six-year term, starting in June. The new law takes effect in January, giving her six months to build a staff, get to know the law and meet with the local officials statewide who will be on the front lines of implementing it.

Gov. Ed Rendell announced the appointment -- which will be within the Department of Community and Economic Development -- yesterday. DCED Secretary Dennis Yablonsky said Ms. Mutchler "has the right combination of knowledge and experience to spearhead the implementation of this important initiative in Pennsylvania. Her work in running the open records office in Illinois will be invaluable to Pennsylvania as we begin this new process that promises to help the public better understand how their government operates."

A journalism graduate from Penn State, Ms. Mutchler left the Morning Call to cover Harrisburg for The Associated Press. She worked for the AP as an investigative reporter in Atlantic City, N.J., covered state government in Illinois and Alaska, and served as spokeswoman and speech writer to late Illinois state Sen. Penny Severns from 1995 to 1998. She became a lawyer, clerked for the former chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court and went into private practice before joining the state attorney general's office in 2003.

She was named the state's first public access counselor in 2004, working with government agencies, residents and the press on open government issues. Over the last few years she learned "there are two extremes on open government arguments. On the one side, there are folks who are convinced if they don't get a document, they are certain it's Watergate. On the flip side, you have public officials who unnecessarily hold onto information as though it's coming from their own personal checkbook," she said. "Neither of those approaches is correct."

For the most part, Pennsylvania's new law will subject the Legislature to open records requirements, but deny access to most 911 tapes, autopsy and police reports -- like the kind Ms. Mutchler almost went to jail for 19 years ago.

While saying she had to study Pennsylvania's law more closely on police reports and other exemptions, she said "at the state level, it's important citizens have access to their government. Whether it's information about their police department, city council or school board, the message I want to get out there is information is a good thing and there's a middle-of-the-road approach."