Dear Requestor,

On April 5, 2021, you sent an electronic communication to an email account
associated with the Division of Criminal Justice that may have been
seeking access to government records under the New Jersey Open Public
Records Act (OPRA).  Please be advised that pursuant to N.J.A.C. 13:1E-2
and long-standing Law and Public Safety (L&PS) policy and practice,
submission of OPRA requests by facsimile transmission or email 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, www.state.nj.us/lps/opra.  Submission of
requests by facsimile transmission or email is not permitted.” 

This restriction is supported by New Jersey case law.  In Paff v. City of
East Orange, 407 N.J. Super. 221, 224 (App. Div. 2009), the Appellate
Division held, “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).”

For these reasons, we are unable to accept your email as a valid OPRA
request.

You may file an OPRA request online by using the Online Request Form
Portal found at 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 your OPRA request by using the
online portal.  However, if you choose not to use the portal, you are
required to submit your OPRA request in writing.  You may use the attached
form or submit a written letter to the address below.  Thank you.

Division of Criminal Justice

Attn: OPRA Custodian

25 Market Street

P.O. Box 085

Trenton, NJ 08625

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE The information contained in this communication
from the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General is privileged and
confidential and is intended for the sole use of the persons or entities
who are the addressees. If you are not an intended recipient of this
e-mail, the dissemination, distribution, copying or use of the information
it contains is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
communication in error, please immediately contact the Office of the
Attorney General at (609) 292-4925 to arrange for the return of this
information.

Mr. Hodges,

Below is the link for the online request system:

https://www-njlib.state.nj.us/NJ_OPRA/de...

Thank you.

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