Volunteer fire co. subject to OPRA but municipality responsible for plaintiff’s legal fees

Ocean County Superior Court Assignment Judge Marlene Lynch Ford ruled on 4/03/2017 that Lavallette Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 is an “instrumentality” of Lavallette Borough and subject to the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) because it “has been delegated the obligation to meet the public safety and police function of firefighting.” Judge Ford also ruled Read More …

Lawrence School Board over-redacted its closed meeting minutes

Records requestors are often given redacted (i.e. black-lined) versions of the minutes from their town council’s or school board’s closed or executive meetings. Sometimes, the redactions are explained only by a vague description such as “on-going litigation” while other times no reasons at all are given. Because requestors aren’t quite sure what has been redacted, Read More …

Appellate Division rules for release of dog bite dashcam video

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 …

CASE SUMMARY: LFTG v. Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office

Case Name: Libertarians for Transparent Government (LFTG) v. Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Docket Number: OCN-L-1699-16 County: Ocean Filing Date: June 23, 2016 Presiding Judge: Mark Troncone Status: Closed   Overview: This case seeks to determine how much information a government employer who forces an employee to resign under threat of removal must disclose in response Read More …

Little Egg Harbor Fire Co. agrees to adhere to Meetings Act

PRESS RELEASE June 11, 2016   The New Jersey Foundation for Open Government (NJFOG) secured a court consent order on May 31 against the Little Egg Harbor Fire District #3 that requires the Board of Fire Commissioners to follow provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA). NJFOG filed an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) Read More …