J. Peterson,

Please be advised that pursuant to regulation, N.J.A.C. 13:1E-2, and
long-standing policy and practice of the Department of Law and Public
Safety (L&PS), submission of OPRA requests by facsimile transmission or
e-mail is not permitted. N.J.A.C. 13:1E-2.4(a) states: “Written Open
Public Records Act (OPRA) requests shall be hand-delivered during normal
business hours of the public agency, mailed or submitted electronically to
the appropriate division or agency custodian of records over the Internet
by means of a web-enabled OPRA request form, which can be found on the
Department of Law and Public Safety OPRA
website, [1]www.state.nj.us/lps/opra. Submission of requests by facsimile
transmission or e-mail is not permitted.” N.J.A.C. 13:1E-2.4(b) provides,
in part: “Only the appropriate division or agency custodian of the record
requested is authorized to accept receipt of an OPRA request on behalf of
that division or agency.” This restriction is supported by New Jersey case
law. In 2009, the Appellate Division stated in Renna v. County of Union,
407 N.J. Super. 230 (App. Div. 2009), “the primary objective of the
statutory construct is that the requester set forth in writing, and in a
cogent and clear manner, the nature of the request and the other
information required by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(f).” On the same day, the
Appellate Division held in Paff v. City of East Orange, 407 N.J. Super.
221 (App. Div. 2009): “We conclude that the authority N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5 (f)
(1) confers upon a custodian of government records to adopt a form for
requesting access to a government record, which includes ‘specific
directions and procedures for requesting a record,’ authorizes a custodian
to direct that a request for a government record must be transmitted only
by methods specified in the form, which need not include every method of
transmission mentioned in N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g).” 

The records request form for the Department of Law and Public Safety, in
relevant part, states: 1. State Law requires that in order to request
access to government records, you must complete, sign and date a written
request for access and deliver it in person or by mail during regular
business hours to the appropriate custodian of the record requested. You
may also complete and submit a web enabled version of this request form
at [2]www.nj.gov/opra. L&PS will not accept submission of a written
request for access by fax or email. Your request is not considered filed
until the written request has been received by the appropriate custodian
of the record requested.2. If you 1) submit a request for access to
government records to someone other than the appropriate custodian; or 2)
do not complete a written request containing the information required in
this form; or 3) make a request for access by telephone, email or fax, the
Open Public Records Act and its deadlines, restrictions and remedies will
not apply to your request. For these reasons, I am not able to accept your
recent e-mail to the Division of State Police as a valid OPRA request. You
can file an OPRA request on-line with the Division of State Police using
the Online Request Form found at either the State Police website or the
Department of Law and Public Safety OPRA
website [3]www.state.nj.us/lps/opra.
or [4]https://www-njlib.state.nj.us/NJ_OPRA/de...

The online OPRA request process was designed for the ease and convenience
of requesters. You are not required to submit an OPRA request by using the
online or paper OPRA request form. However, you are required to submit
OPRA requests in writing. Should you choose to submit a written OPRA
request, please be sure to mail it to the appropriate division records
custodian.

Sincerely,

Sgt. Matthew Dye

New Jersey State Police

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

From: J. Petersen <[OPRA #43447 email]>
Sent: Sunday, May 21, 2023 8:55 PM
To: NJSP OPRA <[email address]>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] OPRA request - Arrest Reports - disorderly conducting
individual(s)
 
***  CAUTION  ***  This message came from an EXTERNAL address
([email address]).
DO NOT click on links or attachments unless you know the sender and the
content is safe. New Jersey State Government Employees Should Forward
Messages That May Be Cyber Security Risks To [email address].

Dear New Jersey State Police,

This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law
right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form. Please
acknowledge receipt of this message.
  Records requested:

Arrest reports involving disorderly conducting individual(s) from
03-01-2023 to 03-15-2023.

If possible, please send the results of the request electronically to
[email address].

Yours faithfully,

J. Petersen, independent journalist

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Please deliver records electronically via email to the below UNIQUE
address for all replies to this request:
[OPRA #43447 email]

Is [NJSP request email] the wrong address for OPRA requests to New Jersey State
Police? If so, please contact us using this form:
[5]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://opra...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[6]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://opra...

View this OPRA request & responses online:
[7]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://opra...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an OPRA custodian, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's website.

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