Mr. Bailey,

 

This office received your OPRA request today, 4/6/2023 seeking ‘Any all
copy of CERTIFICATIONS
Matthew Tucker

John Rodriguez Jr.

Ryan Engler

William Torres Jr

Teddy Ruth

Fran Hamilton

Melissa Robbins

Anthony Dudas

Lewis Woodward

Frank Wilcox

Alissa DeLuca

Gavin Lento

Christina Briel

William Cranmer

Jake Heimann

Katie Wilcox

Bryan Gonzalez

Rich Brettell

Craig Lindsey

Chris Motto

William Miccio

Bill McElroy

Isaac Acosta’

General Objections to the Above Requests.

 

The above requests seeks information or asks questions and does not
identify specific government records.  As such, your request is an invalid
OPRA request and is denied.  When a request is “complex” because it fails
to specifically identify the documents sought, then that request is not
“encompassed” by OPRA. See New Jersey Builders Association v. New Jersey
Council on Affordable Housing, 390 N.J.Super. 166, 180 (App. Div. 2007). 
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. 

 

The New Jersey Superior Court has held "[w]hile OPRA provides an
alternative means of access to government documents not otherwise exempted
from its reach, it is not intended as a research tool litigants 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.’ N.J.S.A.
47:1A-1." (Emphasis added.) MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Division of
Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J.Super. 534, 546 (App. Div. 2005). The
Court added that “[u]nder OPRA, agencies are required to disclose only
‘identifiable’ government records not otherwise exempt ... In short, OPRA
does not countenance open-ended searches of an agency’s files.” (Emphasis
added.) Id. at 549.

 

In Bent v. Stafford Police Department, 381 N.J. Super. 30, 37 (App. Div.
2005), the Superior Court held a requestor must specifically describe the
document sought because OPRA operates to make identifiable government
records “accessible.” “As such, 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.” supra.

 

Moreover, in Bart v. Passaic County Public Housing Agency, 406 N.J. Super.
445 (App. Div. 2009) the Appellate Division stated:

 

“The Act [OPRA] does not, however, require custodians of government
records to undertake research for a requestor. 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.” (citing MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic
Beverage Control, 375 N.J.Super. 534 (App. Div. 2005) and Bent v. Stafford
Police Department, 381 N.J.Super. 30 (App. Div. 2005)).

 

In Elcavage v. West Milford Township (Passaic), GRC Complaint No. 2009-07
(April 2010), the Government Records Council (“Council”) held in
determining whether a request for records are proper under OPRA, the
following information must be contained:

 

(1)          the content and/or subject of the e-mail,

 

(2)         the specific date or range of dates during which the e-mail
was transmitted or the e-mails were transmitted, and

 

(3)          a valid e-mail request must identify the sender and/or the
recipient thereof.

 

In Verry v. Borough of South Bound Brook, GRC Compliant No. 2009-124
(April 2010) the Council reviewed a request seeking “[e]very e-mail sent
and received the week of July 24, 2005 from [1][email address]” and
“[e]very America Online Instant Message (“AIM”) sent and received the week
of July 24, 2005 from [2][email address].”  The Council determined:

 

In the matter currently before the Council, the Complainant identified the
e-mails and AIM messages sought by date range as well as by sender and/or
recipient. The Complainant failed, however, to specify the content and/or
subject of the e-mails and AIM messages sought. As such, the Complainant’s
request failed to seek specifically identifiable e-mail and AIM message
records. Without specific reference to the content and/or subject of the
e-mails and AIM messages sought, the Custodian would be required to
conduct research to identify records responsive to the request; custodians
are not required to conduct research in order to respond to requests under
OPRA. MAG, supra.

 

Accordingly, because the Complainant’s request for every e-mail and AIM
message sent to or sent from [3][email address] during the week of July
24, 2005 fails to seek specific identifiable government records because no
content and/or subject was included, the Complainant’s request is overly
broad and is therefore invalid under OPRA pursuant to MAG, supra, Bent,
supra, New Jersey Builders, supra, and the Council’s decision in Schuler,
supra. Accordingly, the Custodian has not unlawfully denied the
Complainant access to said records. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6. See Sandoval, supra,
and Elcavage, supra.

 

In Pizzuto v. Borough of Oradell, GRC Complaint 2011-31 (October 2012) a
Complainant sought “all correspondence including memoranda, e-mail or text
messages sent or received by Councilwoman Alonso, Councilman Schuler,
Councilman Murphy, Councilman Koth, and/or the Custodian between February
21, 2011 and February 25, 2011 regarding the business of the Borough
including but not limited to professional appointments.” The Council
found:

 

The Complainant’s request seeking all “correspondence” fails to
specifically identify a government record. The Complainant has failed to
specify what type of correspondence he is seeking. Although the
Complainant’s request noted that he sought “memoranda, e-mail or text
messages,” the request was clear that these were not the only types of
records sought. In addition, the Complainant’s request for the subject
“regarding the business of the Borough” would include every government
record in the Borough’s possession.

 

Therefore, because the Complainant’s OPRA request fails to identify a
specific government record, such request is invalid under OPRA pursuant to
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, 37 (App. Div. 2005), New Jersey Builders Association v. New
Jersey Council on Affordable Housing, 390 N.J. Super. 166 (App. Div.
2007), Schuler v. Borough of Bloomsbury, GRC Complaint No. 2007-151
(February 2009) and Elcavage v. West Milford Twp., GRC Complaint Nos.
2009-07 and 2009-08 (March 2010).

 

Should you wish to provide clarification to your OPRA request, please
respond in writing and identify the specific government records sought so
that we may process your request.   Failure to provide written
clarification of your request by Wednesday, 4/12/2023 will result in the
closure of this OPRA request.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Michelle I. Gunther

Clerk of the Board

Ocean County Board of Commissioners

101 Hooper Avenue, P.O. Box 2191

Toms River, New Jersey 08754-2191

Phone: (732) 929-2005

[4]https://co.ocean.nj.us/frmOpraLaw.aspx

 

       [5]county-seal-sm

 

OPRA:  RIGHT OF APPEAL

If your request for access to a government record has been denied or
unfilled within the seven (7) business days required by law, you have a
right to challenge the decision by the County of Ocean to deny access. At
your option, you may either institute a proceeding in the Superior Court
of New Jersey or file a complaint with the Government Records Council
(“GRC”) by completing the Denial of Access Complaint Form.  You may
contact the GRC toll-free via telephone at 866-850-0511, via mail at P.O.
Box 819, Trenton, NJ, 08625, via e-mail at [6][email address], or via
their website at [7]www.state.nj.us/grc. The Council can also answer other
questions about the law.  All questions regarding complaints filed in
Superior Court should be directed to the Court Clerk in your County.

 

From: Tom Bailey <[OPRA #41498 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 5, 2023 5:32 PM
To: OPRA <[Ocean County request email]>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] OPRA request - Fire academy records

 

This message has originated from an External Source. Please use proper
judgment and caution when opening attachments, clicking links, or
responding to this email.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

 

Dear Ocean County,

Any all copy of CERTIFICATIONS
Matthew Tucker

John Rodriguez Jr.

Ryan Engler

William Torres Jr

Teddy Ruth

Fran Hamilton

Melissa Robbins

Anthony Dudas

Lewis Woodward

Frank Wilcox

Alissa DeLuca

Gavin Lento

Christina Briel

William Cranmer

Jake Heimann

Katie Wilcox

Bryan Gonzalez

Rich Brettell

Craig Lindsey

Chris Motto

William Miccio

Bill McElroy

Isaac Acosta

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:

Yours faithfully,

Tom Bailey

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Please deliver records electronically via email to the below UNIQUE
address for all replies to this request:
[8][OPRA #41498 email]

Is [9][Ocean County request email] the wrong address for OPRA requests to Ocean
County? If so, please contact us using this form:
[10]https://opramachine.com/change_request/n...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[11]https://opramachine.com/help/officers

View this OPRA request & responses online:
[12]https://opramachine.com/request/fire_aca...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an OPRA custodian, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's website.

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