On July 9, 2016, attorney Richard Gutman of Montclair filed a GRC complaint on behalf of Libertarians for Transparent Government challenging the Summit Board of Education’s 1) requirement that its OPRA request form be used, and 2) decision to unilaterally grant itself an extension that went well beyond the seven business-day period.
As to the first issue, the decision in Renna v. Union County established that a public agency can’t require a records requestor to use the agency’s specific OPRA form. The second issue is interesting because even the GRC’s own materials are unclear on when extensions are permissible and on the requestor’s role in granting or refusing extension requests.
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