Please be advised that your request has been forwarded to Unemployment for
a response and they will reach out to you shortly.   The Department will
need an additional 5 days to respond to your request.

Thank you.  

Mindy Gensler

Legal Liaison, Office of the Commissioner

P.O. Box 110

1 John Fitch Way

Trenton, NJ 08625

TEL: 609-376-5739 (PLEASE NOTE NEW PHONE NUMBER)

FAX: 609-633-9271

CELL: 609-940-2676

PLEASE NOTE: This electronic message contains information from the New
Jersey Department of Labor, and may contain confidential or privileged
information. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, copy or
use it or disclose it to others. If you have received this message in
error, please notify the sender immediately and then delete it from your
system. Thank you.

Dear Paul B. Dalnoky,

This letter is written on behalf of the OPRA custodian in Unemployment and
in response to your public records request, our tracking number C210690,
in which you seek “copies of electronic or written disqualification of
unemployment compensation requests pursuant to [N.J. statute 43:21-4 (g)
(2)] with all personally identification information redacted.”

Your request is overbroad and improper, meaning that to provide the
information sought would require the Unemployment Insurance Division (the
Division) to research files and compile data for the express purpose of
responding to your request.  The New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA)
does not require OPRA custodians to research files to discern which
records may be responsive to a request, nor does it require an agency to
compile data.  Rather, OPRA requires a party requesting access to a public
record to specifically describe the document sought so that the records
may be readily and reasonably identified.   See See MAG Entertainment, LLC
v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J.Super. 534 (App. Div.
2005), Bent v. Stafford Police Department, 381 N.J. Super. 30 (App. Div.
2005), New Jersey Builders Association v.New Jersey Council of Affordable
Housing, 390 N.J. Super. 166 (App. Div.2007), and Spectraserv v. Middlesex
County Utilities Auth., 416 N.J. Super. 5.

Furthermore, under OPRA, “agencies are only obligated to disclose
identifiable government records." Burke v. Brandes, 429 N.J. Super. 169,
174 (App. Div. 2012), citing MAG Entm't, LLC v. Div. of Alcoholic Beverage
Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 549 (App. Div. 2005).  A records custodian’s
obligation under OPRA has been aptly described as follows: “[T]he
custodian is obligated to search her files to find the identifiable
government records listed in the ... OPRA request .... However, the
Custodian is not required to research her files to figure out which
records, if any, might be responsive to a broad or unclear OPRA request.” 
Burnett v. Cnty. of Gloucester, 415 N.J. Super. 506, 515 (App. Div. 2010)
(quoting Donato v. Twp. of Union, GRC 2005-182, Interim Order (Jan. 31,
2007)).  Thus, an agency does not have a duty under OPRA to analyze and
evaluate information in order to respond to an OPRA request.  Burke v.
Brandes, supra, 429 N.J. Super. at 175; Bent, supra, 381 N.J. Super. at
40.  “The requestor must identify the records sought with specificity. The
request may not be a broad, generic description of documents that requires
the custodian to search the agency’s files and 'analyze, compile and
collate’ the requested information.” Bart v. Passaic County Public Housing
Agency, 406 N.J. Super. 445, 451 (App. Div. 2009)  If a request does not
name specifically identifiable records or is overly broad, a custodian may
deny access pursuant to the well-established case law.  See MAG, supra,
375 N.J. Super. 534;  Bent, supra, 381 N.J. Super. 30; N.J. Builders
Ass’n, supra, 390 N.J. Super.;  Schuler v. Borough of Bloomsbury, GRC
Complaint No. 2007-151 (February 2009).

“While OPRA provides an alternative means of access to government
documents not otherwise exempted from its reach, it is not intended as a
research tool [requestors] may use to force government officials to
identify and siphon useful information.  Rather, OPRA simply operates to
make identifiable government records 'readily accessible for inspection,
copying, or examination.’” MAG, supra, 375 N.J. Super. at 546.  “OPRA does
not countenance open-ended searches of an agency’s files.” MAG, supra, 375
N.J. Super. at 549.  In other words, an OPRA request is invalid if it
requires information to be “analyzed, collated and compiled by the
responding government entity.” Ibid.  The purpose of OPRA is to “make
identifiable government records 'readily accessible for inspection,
copying, or examination’” rather than to require government officials to
conduct research and create documents. MAG, supra, 375 N.J. Super. at 546.

For the above reasons I must deny your government records request.

Mindy Gensler

Legal Liaison, Office of the Commissioner

P.O. Box 110

1 John Fitch Way

Trenton, NJ 08625

TEL: 609-376-5739 (PLEASE NOTE NEW PHONE NUMBER)

FAX: 609-633-9271

CELL: 609-940-2676

From: Gensler, Mindy [DOL]
Sent: Monday, December 4, 2023 11:08 AM
To: [OPRA #55223 email]
Subject: OPRA request for UI records

Please be advised that your request has been forwarded to Unemployment for
a response and they will reach out to you shortly.   The Department will
need an additional 5 days to respond to your request.

Thank you.  

Mindy Gensler

Legal Liaison, Office of the Commissioner

P.O. Box 110

1 John Fitch Way

Trenton, NJ 08625

TEL: 609-376-5739 (PLEASE NOTE NEW PHONE NUMBER)

FAX: 609-633-9271

CELL: 609-940-2676

PLEASE NOTE: This electronic message contains information from the New
Jersey Department of Labor, and may contain confidential or privileged
information. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, copy or
use it or disclose it to others. If you have received this message in
error, please notify the sender immediately and then delete it from your
system. Thank you.