This is to advise you that your email OPRA request has been forwarded to Mary Ann Cilento, Clerk of the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders, as that office is responsible for responding to OPRA requests submitted to the County.

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Ms. Ellsweig,

This office received your OPRA request today for "a list of ALL county contracts from within the last 3 years, including the name of the recipient of the contract and the amount awarded." Ocean County does not have a report that would identify the records requested. This request is overly broad.

A proper request under OPRA must identify with reasonable clarity those documents that are desired, and a party cannot satisfy this requirement by simply requesting ALL of an agency's documents. See Bent v. Stafford Police Department, 381 N.J. Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 2005).

Custodians are not required to conduct research or create new records in response to an OPRA request. As such, your request is an invalid OPRA request and is denied.

As recognized by the Court, an OPRA request is not intended as a research tool, but rather as an avenue for citizens to obtain specific government records. MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 534, 550 (2005) OPRA simply operates to make identifiable government records readily accessible for copying, inspection or examination. An opinion issued by the Appellate Division, Elizabeth Mason v. City of Hoboken, Docket No. A-508-06T5, held that “OPRA is not intended to be used as a fishing expedition or as a research tool to compile unknown documents.”

In the spirit of cooperation, if you wish to provide specific information you believe may assist in your OPRA request, please forward same to my attention. Failure to provide any additional information to clarify your request will result in the closure of this request.

NOTE: An OPRA form can be located at Ocean County's website, www.co.ocean.nj.us, that can be used to complete and email directly to the Clerk of the Board's Office at [Ocean County request email]. This would avoid the OPRA request from going to the Ocean County Clerk's Office and being redirected to my office.

Respectfully submitted,
Mary Ann Cilento, Clerk of the Board
Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders
101 Hooper Avenue, PO Box 2191
Toms River, New Jersey 08754-2191
(732) 929-2005
[email address].

RIGHT OF APPEAL:
If you wish to challenge a decision of the Custodian of Records denying access to a government records, you may:
1. Institute a proceeding to challenge the decision by filing an action in the Superior Court of New Jersey; or
2. File a complaint with the Government Records Council in the Department of Community Affairs.

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