The drafters of OPRA wisely required records custodians, absent a good reason, to either grant or deny access to requested records within seven business days. Without a hard deadline, records requests could be stalled indefinitely.
In a December 9, 2015 letter, the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government (NJFOG) asked the Government Records Council to review Bayonne’s practice of granting itself extensions to the seven business day period without giving a specific reason or date by which a response will be provided. In its letter, NJFOG cautions that Bayonne’s practice “undermines OPRA’s public policy goals and does violence to the public’s right to know.” The OPRA request and Bayonne’s response are available here.