Email and phone records
Dear Hillsdale Borough,
Please accept this electronic request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form or use a particular software platform to submit my request per NJSA 47:1A-5(f), which states that an email from a requestor including all of the information required on the adopted form shall suffice in place of a completed form as a valid government record request.
I HAVE NOT been convicted of any indictable offense under the laws of New Jersey, any other state, or the United States.
I WILL NOT use the requested government records for a commercial purpose.
I AM NOT seeking records in connection with a legal proceeding.
Records requested:
Any emails to and/or from any employee at the Hillsdale Police Department with the domains @Hillsdalepolice.com to and/ or from borough administrator Mike Ghassali with domain @hillsdalenj.com for the period 3/10/2026 through 4/18/2026. Additionally, I am requesting any text messages from Borough Administrator Ghassali and any Hillsdale police officer on their official wireless mobile device or personal wireless mobile device from 3/10/2023 through 4/18/2026
My preferred delivery method for response(s) to this request is by E-mail as attachments. Please confirm you have received this request. If you are not the custodian of records, please forward my request to that person and provide their email address to me for future reference.
Yours faithfully,
Ted Williams
Good morning-
Your Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request dated 4/29/26, received 4/30/26 has been reviewed.
Your request seeks:
Any emails to and/or from any employee at the Hillsdale Police Department with the domains @Hillsdalepolice.com to and/ or from borough administrator Mike Ghassali with domain @hillsdalenj.com for the period 3/10/2026 through 4/18/2026. Additionally, I am requesting any text messages from Borough Administrator Ghassali and any Hillsdale police officer on their official wireless mobile device or personal wireless mobile device from 3/10/2023 through 4/18/2026
At this time, the request is denied as overly broad and not a valid OPRA request.
OPRA requires requests to identify specific, identifiable government records. Requests for “any and all” communications without limitation as to subject matter or specific content require the Custodian to conduct a broad, open-ended search, which is not required under OPRA. See MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534 (App. Div. 2005); Burnett v. County of Bergen, 198 N.J. 408 (2009).
Additionally, the portion of the request seeking text messages from “any Hillsdale police officer” over a multi-year period, including from personal devices, is not sufficiently specific and does not reasonably identify particular government records. OPRA does not require custodians to conduct generalized searches or engage in research or data mining to locate records.
If you wish to resubmit your request, please narrow it by identifying: specific subject matter, and/or specific individuals, and/or a more limited timeframe so that identifiable government records may be located.
Please note that this response does not preclude you from submitting a revised request.
Denise Kohan,
R.M.C., QPA, C.M.R.
Municipal Clerk/Registrar of Vital Statistics
Qualified Purchasing Agent
Borough of Hillsdale
380 Hillsdale Avenue
Hillsdale, NJ 07642
201-666-4800 ext. 1552
www.hillsdalenj.org