Appellate Court rules 2-1 for disclosure of dash-cam video

In a split 2-to-1 decision issued on 8/28/2017, an Appellate Court granted a Lakewood resident access to a dash-cam video of a traffic stop that resulted in the arrest and indictment of a police officer.   NJ Law Journal NJ Appeals Court Opens Avenue to Police Dashcam Videos by Michael Booth August 28, 2017   Read More …

Town must better search for records related to re-development project

A Bergen County Court has ordered Edgewater Borough to do a better search for records related to its planned development of a soon-to-be-condemned property, in response to an OPRA request from the land owner. The court said it’s unclear if the Borough searched its email server for responsive records because information was not provided on Read More …

Wall Board of Ed. denies release of invoice yet “unapproved for payment”

UPDATE (11/1/2017): The School Board released a revised invoice on 8/23/2017 but has refused to release the original invoice issued by the vendor in June 2017. A court hearing on the OPRA complaint is scheduled for January 9, 2018. — (original post) The Wall Township School Board claimed an unapproved yearbook invoice is deliberative and Read More …

Can a public body block release of meeting minutes under OPRA simply by failing to approve them?

Governmental bodies are required to keep minutes of their public meetings under the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA), but release of those records is largely governed by the Open Public Records Act (OPRA). Though the OPMA requires that minutes be “promptly available,” court and GRC decisions have sanctioned long-term non-release of minutes on the grounds Read More …

CASE SUMMARY: LFTG v. Wall Township Board of Education

Case Name: Libertarians for Transparent Government (LFTG) v. Wall Township Board of Education and Brian J. Smyth Docket Number: MON-L-2848-17 County: Monmouth Filing Date: August 3, 2017 Presiding Judge: Not yet assigned (as of 8/10/17) Status: Open Overview: This case presents the issue of whether a custodian can deny access to an invoice under the Read More …