HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania's new open-records chief has Gov. Ed Rendell's permission to hire all the employees she needs, despite a statewide hiring freeze.

The Office of Open Records, established earlier this year under the state's new open-records law, is exempt from the hiring freeze Rendell ordered last month, executive director Terry Mutchler told a Senate panel Monday.

Located in the state Department of Community and Economic Development, the office is expected to have nine employees when hiring is completed, Mutchler said.

Rendell ordered the hiring freeze and other spending cuts to save $200 million, citing the weakening national economy. But the administration also reserved the right to make certain exceptions, Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo said.

The Senate State Government Committee asked Mutchler to discuss how the office will implement the new law, which is designed to give citizens better access to government records.

The law, which will take effect in January, presumes that all government records beyond a list of exceptions are open to the public and requires government officials to justify any decisions for rejecting records requests. State law previously allowed public access only to a narrow list of records.

The office will set copying fees that government agencies can charge. Sen. Mike Brubaker, R-Lancaster, asked Mutchler if those fees would take into account employee time spent making copies.

Mutchler said the law was unclear, but the office is "leaning against" requiring citizens to pay for anything beyond the cost of paper and ink.