New Jersey Foundation for Open Government
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The OPMA statute generally requires that votes by public bodies occur in open session. However, the below article points out that tenure charges is an exception created by a conflicting statute, the Tenure Employees Hearing Law (N.J.S.A. 18A-6-11). Paterson Times Paterson school board’s closed session vote to file tenure charges did not break open Read More …
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 …
UPDATE (3/4/2017): The Appellate Division ruling will be available online after 10 a.m. on Monday, March 6, 2017. See the “unpublished opinions” in the right-hand column on the Judiciary’s web site HERE. — When providing copies of closed (or executive) session minutes under OPRA, public agencies may redact (black out text) as appropriate. For example, Read More …
Governing bodies all too frequently enter closed session without disclosing the specific topics to be discussed as required by the OPMA. News site Planet Princeton criticizes the Princeton Council for this ongoing practice and states “officials don’t seem to care about the issue,” leaving citizens little recourse but to sue to gain compliance. The article Read More …
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 …