Ms. Discenza, the Township is in receipt of your OPRA request dated
September 13, 2023 requesting access to the “Executive Session minutes for
meetings of the Township of Lacey Committee from Jan 1-May 2023.”

Please be advised that these minutes are in draft form and have not been
presented and adopted by the Governing Body. The justification for this
denial is rooted in N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1 which excludes documents in draft
form from being produced. However, not only does the statute explicitly
exclude draft document, draft documents, specifically minutes qualify as
ACD material which are not subject to disclosure under OPRA. Guidance for
this conclusion is derived from Libertarians for Transparent Gov’t v.
Gov’t Records Council, 453 N.J. Super. 83 (App. Div.), certif. denied 233
N.J. 484 (2018) where the Appellate Division affirmed that trial court’s
decision finding that the GRC lawfully denied access to draft meeting
minutes. The court concluded that “the inherent nature of a draft document
as both advisory and requiring deliberation prior to approval, compels the
conclusion that draft minutes are ‘[ACD] material,’ and are not subject to
disclosure under OPRA as a government record. See N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1.” Id.
at 92; see also Parave-Fogg v. Lower Alloways Creek Twp., GRC Complaint
No. 2006-51 (August 2006)  where the Government Records Council held,
citing N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1, that draft, unapproved meeting minutes are
exempt from disclosure as “interagency or intra-agency advisory,
consultative, or deliberative” material, which is not included within the
definition of a government record.

Therefore, because these minutes are in draft form, yet to be adopted
access to the same are denied. When these minutes are formally adopted you
are welcome to make a new request for the same and at which time we will
review your request in accordance with N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1, et seq.

Thank you

Veronica Laureigh
Municipal Clerk/Administrator
Township of Lacey
818 Lacey Road
Forked River, NJ 08731
609-693-1100, ext. 2200
Fax:  609-693-0526
[1][Lacey Township request email]
[2]www.laceytownship.org
 
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