On Wednesday, June 6, 2018, the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and
Preparedness (NJOHSP), which is an in-but-not-of agency of the Department
of Law and Public Safety (L&PS), received an e-mail from AskNJ Media in
which you may be seeking to request access to government records under the
New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA) from NJOHSP.

Please be advised that pursuant to regulation, N.J.A.C. 13:1E-2, and
long-standing L&PS policy and practice, submission of OPRA requests by
facsimile transmission or e-mail is not permitted.

N.J.A.C. 13:1E-2.4(a) states:  “Written Open Public Records Act (OPRA)
requests shall be hand-delivered during normal business hours of the
public agency, mailed or submitted electronically to the appropriate
division or agency custodian of records over the Internet by means of a
web-enabled OPRA request form, which can be found on the Department of Law
and Public Safety OPRA website, [1]www.state.nj.us/lps/opra.  Submission
of requests by facsimile transmission or e-mail is not permitted.” 

N.J.A.C. 13:1E-2.4(b) provides, in part:  “Only the appropriate division
or agency custodian of the record requested is authorized to accept
receipt of an OPRA request on behalf of that division or agency.”

This restriction is supported by New Jersey case law.  In 2009, the
Appellate Division stated in Renna v. County of Union,  407 N.J. Super.
230 (App. Div. 2009), “the primary objective of the statutory construct is
that the requester set forth in writing, and in a cogent and clear manner,
the nature of the request and the other information required by N.J.S.A.
47:1A-5(f).”  On the same day, the Appellate Division held in Paff v. City
of East Orange, 407 N.J. Super. 221 (App. Div. 2009):

“We conclude that the authority N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5 (f) (1) confers upon a
custodian of government records to adopt a form for requesting access to a
government record, which includes ‘specific directions and procedures for
requesting a record,’ authorizes a custodian to direct that a request for
a government record must be transmitted only by methods specified in the
form, which need not include every method of transmission mentioned in
N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g).”

The records request form for the Department of Law and Public Safety, in
relevant part, states:

1. State Law requires that in order to request access to government
records, you must complete, sign and date a written request for access and
deliver it in person or by mail during regular business hours to the
appropriate custodian of the record requested. You may also complete and
submit a web enabled version of this request form at [2]www.nj.gov/opra. 
L&PS will not accept submission of a written request for access by fax or
email. Your request is not considered filed until the written request has
been received by the appropriate custodian of the record requested.

2. If you 1) submit a request for access to government records to someone
other than the appropriate custodian; or 2) do not complete a written
request containing the information required in this form; or 3) make a
request for access by telephone, email or fax, the Open Public Records Act
and its deadlines, restrictions and remedies will not apply to your
request.

For these reasons, I am not able to accept your recent e-mail to NJOHSP as
a valid OPRA request.

You can file an OPRA request on-line with the New Jersey Office of
Homeland Security and Preparedness using the Online Request Form found at
the Department of Law and Public Safety OPRA website
[3]www.state.nj.us/lps/opra. 

The online OPRA request process was designed for the ease and convenience
of requesters.  You are not required to submit an OPRA request by using
the online or paper OPRA request form.  However, you are required to
submit OPRA requests in writing.  Should you choose to submit a written
OPRA request, please be sure to mail it to the Custodian of Records, New
Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, PO Box 091, 1200
Negron Drive, Hamilton, NJ 08691.

Sincerely,

Randall Richardson / OPRA Custodian

New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness

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The information contained in this e-mail, including any attachment(s), is
intended solely for use by the named addressee(s) and may contain
Sensitive but Unclassified information that may be statutorily or
otherwise prohibited from being released without appropriate approval. If
you are not the intended recipient you are not authorized to disclose,
copy, distribute or retain this message, in whole or in part, without
written authorization from the NJ Office of Homeland Security and
Preparedness. If you have received this message in error, please notify
the sender immediately, permanently delete this email, along with any
attachments and destroy any printouts. This notice is included in all
e-mail messages leaving the NJ Office of Homeland Security and
Preparedness. Thank you for your cooperation.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.state.nj.us/lps/opra
2. http://www.nj.gov/opra
3. http://www.state.nj.us/lps/opra