Dear Records Custodian,

Pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA), N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., I am requesting access to the following public records:
1. A detailed report of all overtime earnings for Lieutenant Nickolas Szymanski #86 for the calendar year 2023.
2. Please separate the total earnings into:
• Patrol Overtime (Regular Overtime)
• Extra Duty Details (also known as private or special details, road jobs)
3. For each category, please provide the total amount in U.S. dollars earned during 2023.
4. For patrol overtime, please also include any associated codes, reasons, or justifications listed for each overtime entry (e.g., “court appearance,” “shift extension,” “staff shortage,” etc.).

Please provide the records in electronic format (PDF or Excel preferred). If there are any fees for searching or copying these records, please inform me before fulfilling the request. However, I request a waiver of all fees as this information is being sought in the public interest.

If any portion of the requested records is exempt from disclosure, please provide the non-exempt portions and cite the specific exemption(s) for any withheld materials.

I look forward to your response within the statutory time frame. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if clarification is needed.

Thank you for your time and assistance.

With curiosity and a commitment to responsible use of taxpayer dollars,

SneakyPete

Dear Marlboro Township Police Department,

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to follow up on an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request I submitted on May 14, 2025. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., a response was due within seven (7) business days, which would have been no later than May 23, 2025.

As of today’s date, I have not received an acknowledgment of the request, nor have I received a request for an extension, as is required under the statute if additional time is needed to fulfill the request.

Please confirm receipt of my original request and provide an update on its current status. I respectfully request that the appropriate steps be taken to bring this request into compliance with OPRA.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Yours faithfully,
SneakyPete

Dear Allen Bilinski,

Thank you for your response to my recent Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request.

I respectfully disagree with the denial of access to the overtime compensation records for the officer in question. As you may be aware, New Jersey courts have consistently held that public employee salary and compensation information, including overtime pay, is subject to disclosure under OPRA.

In particular, the New Jersey Appellate Division in Asbury Park Press v. County of Monmouth, 2017 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 2063 (App. Div. Aug. 21, 2017), reaffirmed that payroll records, including the amount of overtime paid to government employees, are public records. The court found that such information is not protected by any OPRA exemption and is essential for transparency and public oversight of government spending.

Furthermore, the Government Records Council (GRC) has repeatedly ruled that requests for overtime and compensation data do not violate privacy rights when they relate to public employees acting in their official capacity.

Unless the denial is based on a specific statutory exemption, I respectfully request that you reconsider and fulfill the request in accordance with OPRA. If there is a legal basis for the denial, please provide the precise statutory citation and a detailed explanation as required under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g).

Yours sincerely,

SneakyPete

Dear Marlboro Township Police Department,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Open Public Records Act reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Marlboro Township Police Department's handling of my OPRA request '2023 Overtime Records for Lt. Nickolas Szymanski

New Jersey courts have consistently held that public employee salary and compensation information, including overtime pay, is subject to disclosure under OPRA.

In particular, the New Jersey Appellate Division in Asbury Park Press v. County of Monmouth, 2017 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 2063 (App. Div. Aug. 21, 2017), reaffirmed that payroll records, including the amount of overtime paid to government employees, are public records. The court found that such information is not protected by any OPRA exemption and is essential for transparency and public oversight of government spending.

Furthermore, the Government Records Council (GRC) has repeatedly ruled that requests for overtime and compensation data do not violate privacy rights when they relate to public employees acting in their official capacity.

Unless the denial is based on a specific statutory exemption, I respectfully request that you reconsider and fulfill the request in accordance with OPRA. If there is a legal basis for the denial, please provide the precise statutory citation and a detailed explanation as required under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g).

A full history of my OPRA request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://opramachine.com/request/2023_ove...

Yours faithfully,

SneakyPete

Dear Allan Bilinski,

First, I must note that your initial failure to respond within the statutory timeframe under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(i) constitutes a procedural violation of OPRA. Subsequently, the denial you issued cited N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10, asserting that the records were exempt as personnel records. Respectfully, this position reflects a misunderstanding of the statute and its clearly defined exceptions.

While N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10 does exempt most personnel and pension records from disclosure, it explicitly states that the following categories must be disclosed:
• Individual’s name
• Title and position
• Salary and payroll records
• Length of service
• Date and reason of separation (if applicable)
• Amount and type of pension received

The request I submitted falls squarely under these exceptions—specifically under “salary and payroll records.” Overtime compensation, both for municipal patrol work and for extra-duty details, is a payroll record, and therefore subject to disclosure under OPRA. This is supported by the Government Records Council in Simmons v. Ridgefield Borough Police Department, GRC Complaint No. 2004-22, where it was determined that payroll records, including overtime, are disclosable under OPRA when redactions are applied as necessary.

Additionally, the Appellate Division in Asbury Park Press v. County of Monmouth, 406 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2009), reaffirmed that details of public employee compensation—including overtime—are government records subject to disclosure, as long as they do not include exempt personal information.

Your subsequent claim that the request was “unclear” or “required research” is equally unfounded. My request was specific, targeted, and did not require the creation of new records—merely the production of existing payroll data and overtime justifications already submitted and approved through departmental channels.

To clarify, I am requesting the following public records:
1. A detailed report of all overtime earnings for Lieutenant Nickolas Szymanski (#86) for the calendar year 2023.
2. Separation of total overtime earnings into:
• Patrol Overtime (Regular Overtime)
• Extra Duty Details (also known as special details or road jobs)
3. The total amount in U.S. dollars earned in each category.
4. For patrol overtime only, the associated codes, descriptions, or justifications listed for each entry (e.g., “court appearance,” “shift extension,” “staff shortage”).

This request aligns with OPRA’s transparency objectives and with prior case law interpreting salary and payroll data as publicly accessible. Should any specific entry contain legitimately exempt material (e.g., HIPAA-protected data), I welcome a redacted version in compliance with N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g).

If this request continues to be denied without appropriate justification, I will have no choice but to seek relief through the Government Records Council, initiate proceedings in Superior Court or an internal affairs complaint into your conduct.

I appreciate your prompt attention to this matter and look forward to your compliance in accordance with New Jersey law.

Yours sincerely,

SneakyPete