New Jersey Foundation for Open Government
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On June 30, 2016, the NJ Appellate Division issued a published (and thus precedential) decision in John Paff v. Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Docket No. A-4226-14T3, an OPRA case seeking release of a police dashcam video depicting a police dog attack on a female motorist. A three-judge panel voted 2-1 to affirm a lower court Read More …
The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case in which the Appellate Division held that Millstone Valley Fire Department is an “instrumentality” of the Franklin Fire District #1 (Somerset County) and is therefore a “public agency” subject to the Open Public Records Act. RELATED POST: Appellate Court: Volunteer Fire Company is Read More …
The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal of the Appellate Division’s December 18, 2015 ruling that only requestors can file an OPRA lawsuit, or rather, that there is no declaratory judgment action for public agencies with regard to records requests. A-68-15 In the Matter of the New Jersey State Fireman’s Read More …
A New Jersey Appellate Court says OPRA does not require an email log to be created, though the emails themselves are subject to OPRA. Interesting, though, is that in response to a GRC “denial of access” complaint, a custodian must provide an explanation of the search undertaken for records. The search would seem to include Read More …
This editorial concerns disclosure of a fire company’s revenues, including those from independent sources. Courts have exclusively held that volunteer fire companies are “public agencies” under OPRA, thus their revenues should be part of required financial reporting that allows towns to better appropriate tax dollars. -NJFOG SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST FOR Read More …