Dear Burlington County,

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:

Dear Custodian of Records,

Specified records requested;

1. A record/list of all non-union, unclassified employees hired by Burlington County between January 1, 2020 to present denoting responsive individuals’ names, titles, positions, department, salary, hire date, post-hire adjustments to payroll records, length of service, date of separation and the reason therefor, and the amount and type of any pension received. For clarity, the description “non-union” means any employee designated in a confidential, managerial executive or other title that is not currently in/or able to align with a collective bargaining unit/union. The description “unclassified” means any employee appointed to a County title that is exempt from NJ Civil Service procedures, qualifications or other requirements. The foregoing request should include any responsive records regardless if such appointment is categorized as “permanent,” “provisional” “full-time” or “part-time.”

2. A copy of any resumes, curriculum vitae or other records that disclose an employee’s specific experiential, educational or medical qualifications required for appointment to any position(s) identified in response to Request No. 1. This request does not seek any detailed medical or psychological information, which may be contained in otherwise responsive records. Further, “other records” sought by this Request include any job descriptions, job postings or communications that set forth the required qualifications for an individual’s appointment to such positions.

3. A copy of any agendas, minutes, resolutions, or other related documents concerning the appointment of any persons identified in response to Request No. 1 or reflecting the consideration, approval, or hire/onboarding by the County Administrator, the Burlington County Board of County Commissioners, or any Board-created personnel committee. For clarification, the description “other documents” means any supporting record provided to the Administrator, any Board member or committee member in conjunction with a request for formal action to hire any person identified by Request No. 1. By way of example, but not limitation, responsive records include any communications to a member of the Burlington County Board of County Commissioners or as delegated to the Personnel Committee or the County Administrator, that establishes the specific experiential, educational or medical qualifications relied upon for approving the appointment.
4. To the extent excluded from your response to Request No. 1, a record/list of all non-union, unclassified employees hired between January 1, 2020 to present pursuant to the appointing authority of any constitutional officer, independent agency, or similar board subject to the County’s personnel administration, funding or oversight, including any responsive individuals’ names, applicable appointing authority, titles, positions, department salary, hire date, post-hire adjustments to payroll records, length of service, date of separation and the reason therefor, and the amount and type of any pension received. The terms “non-union” and “unclassified” are intended to have the same meaning as used in Request No. 1. For clarity, records should include any employee under the appointment authority of the County Clerk, County Surrogate, County Sheriff, County Prosecutor, Superintendent of Elections, the Board of Elections or analogous independent officer or agency, but subject to ministerial, financial or administrative oversight by the Burlington County Board of County Commissioners, or a Personnel Committee and the County Administrator as may be delegated by the Board for employment matters.
5. To the extent excluded from your response to Request Nos. 1 & 2, a copy of any resumes, curriculum vitae or other records that disclose an employee’s specific experiential, educational or medical qualifications required for appointment to any position(s) identified in response to Request No. 4. This request does not seek any detailed medical or psychological information, which may be contained in otherwise responsive records. Further, “other records” sought by this Request include any job descriptions, job postings or communications that set forth the required qualifications for an individual’s appointment to such positions.
6. To the extent excluded from your response to Request No. 1, a copy of any agendas, minutes, resolutions, or other documents concerning or reflecting the consideration, approval, or hire/onboarding of any persons identified in response to Request No. 4 by the County Administrator, the Burlington County Board of County Commissioners, or any Board-created personnel committee. For clarification, the description “other documents” means any supporting record provided to the Administrator, any Board member or committee member in conjunction with a formal request to hire any person identified by Request No. 4 and used in reliance of making such appointment. By way of example, but not limitation, responsive records include any communications to a member of the Burlington County Board of County Commissioners or as delegated to the Personnel Committee or the County Administrator, that establishes the specific experiential, educational or medical qualifications relied upon for approving the appointment.

If you withhold any communications or documents on the basis of an exemption under OPRA or other legal privilege, I request that you provide a log describing the specific information withheld, and including the date the record was created/sent, any recipients, the exemption/privilege asserted, and the basis for any redactions or documents withheld. In addition, should you seek to withhold any records that were contemporaneously transmitted to the Board, it’s personnel committee or the county administrator in support of formal public action when approving any appointments at a public meeting, then you are asked to specifically identify the grounds to deny access to such records now.

To the extent the County maintains information responsive to Requests 1 and/or 4 in an electronic database such as Edmunds, or other software/service procured for personnel administration, I request that records responsive to Request Nos. 1 and 4 to be provided as exported natives in Excel format with a notation or file nomenclature sufficient to allow the requester to note when the exported data was pulled from such database.

To the extent that the County maintains information responsive to Requests 3 or 6 in an electronic database such as or similar to the County’s PRESS system or it’s main website, but such archives do not provide either (i) the resolutions listed for consideration by the Board or it’s delegates, or (ii) any backup information included in support of any resolutions or action by the Board, it’s Personnel Committee or County Administrator, these requests seek the production of any responsive records as PDF files in a manner that provides responsive resolutions collected with any supporting documentation as provided to the Board, Personnel Committee or County Adminsitrator. We also request that any responsive minutes/agendas are produced in PDF form in a manner that compiles any responsive resolutions together with the corresponding agenda and minutes where such action was taken.

All responsive documents produced in response to this request should be electronically delivered by responsive email.

Please confirm your receipt of this correspondence and the date you received.

Yours faithfully,

Patrick Duff