Pennsylvania's open records office is currently being run by a lawyer on its staff, but that could change after a pending court hearing.
Commonwealth Court was scheduled to hear oral argument on Wednesday in a lawsuit brought by Erik Arneson.
The longtime Republican Senate aide was hired in January as the office's executive director by Gov. Tom Corbett, then fired less than two weeks later by Corbett's successor, Gov. Tom Wolf.
Arneson argues the Office of Open Records can't perform its job effectively if the executive director is fired at the governor's whim. Many of the disputes the office handles involve executive branch agencies under the governor.
Wolf has said Arneson's appointment was too hasty and lacked transparency. He plans a national search for the next open records czar.
