NJ Supreme Court hears argument Re access to police dashcam video

The New Jersey Supreme Court heard arguments on 2/27/2018 concerning public access to police dashcam video in the case Paff v. Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office. The New Jersey Law Journal article below provides a nice summary of the arguments presented on both sides. The hearing comes on the heels of the New Jersey Attorney General’s Read More …

NJ Supreme Court unanimously in favor of electronic records access!

In a unanimous decision issued on June 20, 2017 in John Paff v. Galloway Township, et al, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA), “information in electronic form, even if part of a larger document, is itself a government record [and that] electronically stored information extracted from an Read More …

Despite legislation, Port Authority of NY/NJ still not honoring OPRA

(UPDATE 2/2/17):  In what may be the first GRC complaint filed against the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey since it became subject to OPRA in June 2015, the GRC ruled on Jan. 31, 2017 that the Authority violated OPRA by seeking “at least 3 weeks” to review a request (that was ignored Read More …

Settlement agreements involving public agencies are disclosable under OPRA

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. Settlement agreements to which a governmental agency is a party — and for which taxpayers are on the hook directly or through the cost of insurance — are public records under New Jersey’s OPRA law. Last week NJFOG board member and transparency advocate John Paff reported on Read More …

Activist seeks to force Passaic County to disclose cost of civil rights settlement

Settlement agreements entered into by governmental agencies are public documents.  That is well-established.  (See our Knowledge Corner HERE.)  This OPRA case is interesting in that it concerns disclosure of the terms of the settlement before its final drafting and adoption by the governing body. – NJFOG December 2, 2015 (updated 12/3/15) By Richard Cowen staff writer | The Record Read More …