Government Accountability Project/ Mr. Coffey,

This email is in regards to the request received by this office on
8/4/2025. Same was assigned OPRA Request #683 for tracking purposes and in
your email, you requested:

“I hereby demand the immediate production of the following government
records relating to the status, classification, and federal communication
of bench warrants issued by the Sussex County Superior Court:

1. All records, printouts, entry screens, summaries, or confirmation
documents reflecting the current NCIC (National Crime Information Center)
entry or status for any and all active bench warrants issued in the name
of Lee H. Coffey (DOB: August 23, 1999, SBI: 725283H, Indictment/Complaint
No.: 23-08-00202-I / 23-49-001), including but not limited to any field,
notation, or classification indicating the pickup radius, extradition
limitations, or geographical scope (e.g., New Jersey only, regional, or
nationwide extradition).

2. All detainer notices, fugitive files, teletype communications, or
correspondence between the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office (or any law
enforcement entity acting on its behalf) and any federal agency—including
but not limited to ICE, CBP, DHS, or the U.S. Marshals Service—regarding
the above-referenced warrant(s).

3. Any policies, guidance, or internal memoranda governing the Sussex
County Sheriff’s Office’s entry, classification, or management of
extradition codes or detainers for warrants issued by the Sussex County
Superior Court.

4. All written or electronic communications between the Sussex County
Sheriff’s Office and the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office, New Jersey
State Police, or any other law enforcement agency, regarding the scope,
extradition parameters, or status of the above-referenced warrant(s) from
September 1, 2024 to the present.

5. Any and all records, documents, or electronic data reflecting the
existence, docket number, and current status of any other active bench
warrant(s) issued for Lee H. Coffey by any division of the Superior Court
of New Jersey, Sussex Vicinage, and if so, providing the docket number(s),
date(s) of issuance, nature of the underlying matter, and status of
enforcement or extradition instructions.

If any record is withheld, redacted, or claimed exempt, I demand a
detailed privilege log (Vaughn Index) for each such record, specifying the
nature of the record, the legal basis for each claimed exemption, the
date, author, recipient, and a summary sufficient to allow independent
judicial review, as required by OPRA and prevailing case law.

This request is made pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., N.J.S.A.
47:1A-6(f), and the common law right of access. Timely, good faith
compliance is both a statutory and fiduciary duty of all public officers
and employees.

Failure to strictly comply with the requirements of OPRA, including
improper delay, obstruction, or blanket denial, will be treated as a
willful violation subject to legal challenge, public disclosure, and
potential referral to the appropriate oversight and regulatory
authorities”.

As of September 3, 2024, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 was amended to require all OPRA
requests either use the form created by the government entity or certify
the questions on said document.  The document is attached for your
reference. You will need to affirm the answers to the questions as
required on the OPRA form, which are part of the data fields required
under law.
[1]https://www.sussexcountysheriff.com/opra

As an option, I have included the required questions below for your
convenience.  A response to this email will suffice.

Under penalty of N.J.S.A. 2C:28-3, I certify that

1. I HAVE / HAVE NOT been convicted of any indictable offense under the
laws of New Jersey, any other state, or the United States;

2. I, or another person, WILL / WILL NOT use the requested government
records for a commercial purpose;

3. I AM / AM NOT seeking records in connection with a legal proceeding.

Sincerely,

Undersheriff Matthew Avenatti

Sussex County Sheriff’s Office

39 High Street

Newton, NJ 07860

(973) 579-0850 X2108

[2][Sussex County Sheriff's Office request email]

NOTICE OF CONFIDENTIALITY

This message, including any prior messages and attachments, may contain
advisory, consultative and/or deliberative material, confidential
information or privileged communications of the Sussex County Sheriff’s
Office. Access to this message by anyone other than the sender and the
intended recipient(s) is unauthorized. If you are not the intended
recipient of this message, any disclosure, copying, distribution or action
taken or not taken in reliance on it, without the expressed written
consent of the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office, is prohibited. If you have
received this message in error, you should not save, scan, transmit,
print, use or disseminate this message or any information contained in
this message in any way and you should promptly delete or destroy this
message and all copies of it. Please notify the sender by return e-mail if
you have received this message in error.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.sussexcountysheriff.com/opra
2. mailto:[Sussex County Sheriff's Office request email]

Government Accountability Project,

Please see the below response to OPRA Request #683.

1. All records, printouts, entry screens, summaries, or confirmation
documents reflecting the current NCIC (National Crime Information Center)
entry or status for any and all active bench warrants issued in the name
of Lee H. Coffey (DOB: August 23, 1999, SBI: 725283H, Indictment/Complaint
No.: 23-08-00202-I / 23-49-001), including but not limited to any field,
notation, or classification indicating the pickup radius, extradition
limitations, or geographical scope (e.g., New Jersey only, regional, or
nationwide extradition).

Your request is denied. See N.J.S.A. 13:59-1.2 Dissemination for
noncriminal justice purposes.

(a) In addition to any other Federal or state laws, regulations, executive
orders, ordinances or resolutions authorizing the dissemination of
criminal history record information, the following requesters are
authorized to obtain from the SBI all New Jersey criminal history record
information from the central repository of SBI for noncriminal justice
purposes records of convictions in New Jersey State courts and, regardless
of their age, all records of pending arrests and charges for violations of
New Jersey laws, unless such records have been expunged pursuant to law: 

1. Governmental entities of this State, the Federal government or any
other state for any official governmental purposes, including, but not
limited to, employment, licensing and the procurement of services; 

2. A person or non-governmental entity of any state, that seeks to
directly engage the services of the subject of the record, for purposes of
determining the subject's qualifications for employment, volunteer work or
other performance of services; 

3. Attorneys-at-law licensed by any state for use in any contested matters
docketed in any state or Federal courts or administrative agencies of any
state; 

4. Private detectives licensed by the New Jersey Division of State Police
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 45:19-8 et seq., for purposes of obtaining
information in furtherance of the performance of their statutorily
authorized functions, as specifically enumerated by N.J.S.A. 45:19-9(a)1
to 9; and 

5. A named individual as prescribed pursuant to N.J.A.C. 13:59-1.7. 

Additionally, see N.J.S.A. 13:59-1.7. Dissemination of personal record to
named individual.

(a) The SBI shall work in concert with any person to make any necessary
corrections to that person's criminal history record information. For the
purpose of determining the accuracy thereof, any individual may request a
fingerprint search on his or her personal criminal history record: 

1. By submitting the fee specified in N.J.A.C. 13:59-1.3(a) and the
applicable form specified in N.J.A.C. 13:59-1.4(b), an individual may
request a fingerprint search of the information in the central repository
of the New Jersey State Police SBI; or 

2. By submitting the fee and forms required pursuant to 28 CFR 16:30 et
seq., an individual may request a fingerprint search of the information in
the NCIC and other states' computerized repositories of the FBI. 

2. All detainer notices, fugitive files, teletype communications, or
correspondence between the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office (or any law
enforcement entity acting on its behalf) and any federal agency—including
but not limited to ICE, CBP, DHS, or the U.S. Marshals Service—regarding
the above-referenced warrant(s).

Your request for the above requested documents is denied because no such
records exist within the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office.
See Pusterhofer v. NJ Dep’t of Educ., GRC Complaint No. 2005-49 (July
2005)(The Council determined that no unlawful denial of access occurred
because the custodian certified that no responsive records existed and
there was no evidence in the record to refute her certification). 

3. Any policies, guidance, or internal memoranda governing the Sussex
County Sheriff’s Office’s entry, classification, or management of
extradition codes or detainers for warrants issued by the Sussex County
Superior Court.

Your request for the above requested documents is denied because no such
records exist within the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office.
See Pusterhofer v. NJ Dep’t of Educ., GRC Complaint No. 2005-49 (July
2005)(The Council determined that no unlawful denial of access occurred
because the custodian certified that no responsive records existed and
there was no evidence in the record to refute her certification). 

4. All written or electronic communications between the Sussex County
Sheriff’s Office and the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office, New Jersey
State Police, or any other law enforcement agency, regarding the scope,
extradition parameters, or status of the above-referenced warrant(s) from
September 1, 2024 to the present.

Your request for the above requested documents is denied because no such
records exist within the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office.
See Pusterhofer v. NJ Dep’t of Educ., GRC Complaint No. 2005-49 (July
2005)(The Council determined that no unlawful denial of access occurred
because the custodian certified that no responsive records existed and
there was no evidence in the record to refute her certification). 

5. Any and all records, documents, or electronic data reflecting the
existence, docket number, and current status of any other active bench
warrant(s) issued for Lee H. Coffey by any division of the Superior Court
of New Jersey, Sussex Vicinage, and if so, providing the docket number(s),
date(s) of issuance, nature of the underlying matter, and status of
enforcement or extradition instructions.

See Attached responsive document marked “Responsive Documents OPRA
#683_Redacted”.

Please be aware, that personal identifying information have been redacted.
Personally identifiable information are not public records and carry some
expectation of
privacy. See N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1; see also N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1; see also Burnett
v. Cnty. of Bergen, 198 N.J. 408, 423 (2009)(the Court held that the
privacy provision “is neither a preface nor a preamble. Rather, the very
language expressed in the privacy clause reveals its substantive nature;
it does not offer reasons why OPRA was adopted, as preambles typically do;
instead it focuses on the law’s implementation. Specifically, it imposes
an obligation on public agencies to protect against disclosure of personal
information which would run contrary to reasonable privacy interests”). 

Additionally, “…a public agency has a responsibility and an obligation to
safeguard from public access a citizen's personal information with which
it has been entrusted, or information that might reasonably lead to
disclosure of a person’s personal information, when disclosure thereof
would violate the citizen's reasonable expectation of privacy, or when the
public agency has reason to believe that disclosure of such personal
information may result in harassment, unwanted solicitation, identity
theft, or opportunities for other criminal acts”, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1. 

Judiciary records are exempt from disclosure and are only disclosable
pursuant to the Rules Governing the Courts of New Jersey. See 47:1A-1.1;
R. 1:38.  For additional information, you can contact the appropriated
court.

This concludes your request.

Sincerely,

Undersheriff Matthew Avenatti

Sussex County Sheriff’s Office

39 High Street

Newton, NJ 07860

(973) 579-0850 X2108

[1][Sussex County Sheriff's Office request email]

NOTICE OF CONFIDENTIALITY

This message, including any prior messages and attachments, may contain
advisory, consultative and/or deliberative material, confidential
information or privileged communications of the Sussex County Sheriff’s
Office. Access to this message by anyone other than the sender and the
intended recipient(s) is unauthorized. If you are not the intended
recipient of this message, any disclosure, copying, distribution or action
taken or not taken in reliance on it, without the expressed written
consent of the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office, is prohibited. If you have
received this message in error, you should not save, scan, transmit,
print, use or disseminate this message or any information contained in
this message in any way and you should promptly delete or destroy this
message and all copies of it. Please notify the sender by return e-mail if
you have received this message in error.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Sussex County Sheriff's Office request email]