Closed session minutes delinquent or missing in Deerfield Twp.

UPDATE (6/20/2017):  Minutes from as far back as July 3, 2002 were up for approval at the June 7, 2017 meeting of the Deerfield Township Committee, per the agenda. “Denying the public access to meeting minutes for 15 years certainly does not satisfy the “promptly available” requirement of the Open Public Meetings Act, N.J.S.A. 10:4-14,” Read More …

Lawrence School Board over-redacted its closed meeting minutes

Records requestors are often given redacted (i.e. black-lined) versions of the minutes from their town council’s or school board’s closed or executive meetings. Sometimes, the redactions are explained only by a vague description such as “on-going litigation” while other times no reasons at all are given. Because requestors aren’t quite sure what has been redacted, Read More …

Closed session minutes were not typed up, Kearny Clerk admits

Records requestors seeking minutes of non-public (closed or executive) session meetings often encounter roadblocks, from outright denials to delays to complete redactions. And in some cases, minutes are just a few lines long consisting of boiler plate language that offers no real information. Sometimes there is even a question as to whether minutes have been Read More …

Municipal clerk sues over exclusion from executive sessions

Hapatcong’s Clerk claims that she was excluded from certain executive session meetings at which the council discussed an internal complaint filed by her and other municipal employees. Her complaint states that her exclusion from those meetings “makes it impossible for [her]…to fulfill her statutory duties and also violates the Open Public Meetings Act with respect Read More …

Lumberton public records go missing … a second time

UPDATE (8/17/15) – Judge Marc M. Baldwin will preside over the hearing in Paff v. Lumberton.  The hearing is currently scheduled for September 4, 2015. UPDATE (8/18/2015) – Click here for a Burlington County Times news story on this topic.  According to the township attorney, the 2011-2013 closed session meeting minutes were stored on a thumb Read More …