Under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA), custodians may impose a reasonable special service charge when fulfilling a records request that “involves an extraordinary expenditure of time and effort.” Having outside counsel review invoices to redact privileged information does not meet the criteria, according to the court’s decision in Nunnermacker
The Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division recently published its opinion in the case of American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) v. New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice (NJ-DCJ). The issue before the court was whether, in response to a request for government records under the Open
In a recent decision, the Superior Court of New Jersey held that the Borough of Cliffside Park violated the state’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA) by failing to provide copies of a settlement agreement executed between the municipality and its former chief of police. The cases, John Paff v. Borough
Momentum is growing among New Jersey municipalities to expand the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA) to include state lawmakers. The basic argument is “if us, why not them?” Under the current law, OPRA’s disclosure requirements apply to “public agencies,” which are defined as: The executive branch of state
Gannet Co.’s lawsuit against borough of Raritan is one of the longest-running suits under New Jersey’s Open Public Record Act (OPRA). In the latest development, a special master appointed by the court has awarded the newspaper company $542,000 in legal fees. The case, which dates back to 2009, involves Raritan’s
Last week, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey issued a key decision regarding the state’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA). In Bozzi v. City of Atlantic City, the panel ruled that public entities can only charge OPRA rates for bid specifications even if the specifications are
In a recent decision, the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court highlighted that requests under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA) and discovery conducted pursuant to a lawsuit are two distinct legal tools. The Facts of the Case Burke v. Ocean County involved an OPRA request filed
In a recent decision, the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court confirmed that the state’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA) only applies to true “public entities.” The court rejected the notion that a for-profit corporation could fall under OPRA simply because it performs taxpayer-funded, governmental activities. The Facts
