List of all arrests for marijuana charges from 1-1-21 though today.
Patrick Duff made this OPRA request to New Jersey Attorney General's Office This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.
Dear New Jersey Attorney General's Office,
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:
List of all arrests for marijuana charges in NJ from 1-1-21 though today. Please include the race, age and sex of each person arrested.
Yours faithfully,
Patrick Duff
Mr. Duff,
Please be advised that pursuant to regulation, N.J.A.C. 13:1E-2,
submission of records requests by email to the Department of Law and
Public Safety 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 [.]
Submission of requests by e-mail or facsimile transmission is not
permitted." For these reasons, I am not able to accept your email as a
valid OPRA request for access to government records.
You may submit your request through the State’s online form, located at:
[1]https://www-njlib.state.nj.us/NJ_OPRA/de.... Select "Law and
Public Safety." Next, select the division you wish to submit the request
to. If you wish to mail your request, the mailing addresses for the
various Records Custodians within the Department of Law & Public Safety
can be found on page 2 of the attached form. You are not required to
utilize the attached request form and a hard copy letter detailing the
records you are seek would also suffice.
Note, as a courtesy, I reviewed the contents of your email. To the extent
responsive records are available, they would be within the possession of
the Division of State Police, a separate division of Law & Public Safety.
Requests to the Division of State Police can be submitted via the online
form link above. Select “Law and Public Safety.” Next, select “Division
of State Police.” You may also submit your request through hard copy
correspondence to the Division of State Police at: Division of State
Police, ATTN Records Custodian, PO Box 7068 Headquarters, River Rd. Bldg.
15, West Trenton 08628.
Ivonnely Colon-Fung, Deputy Attorney General
Law & Public Safety -- OAG Custodian of Records
Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex
25 Market Street, P.O. Box 081
Trenton, N.J. 08625
Phone: (609) 984-6998
Dear OAG Records,
I object to the need for any form. All other nj entities accept unformal emails, of such this is not. This request is being made through the OPRAmachine, which has processes more than 60,000 requests using the same method that you are now objecting to. I am seeking an internal review of this request. It is proper and your denial is not lawful.
Yours sincerely,
Patrick Duff
Mr. Duff,
As noted in the my prior email, you are not required to fill out the
official form. However, both the Government Records Council and the New
Jersey Superior Court have recognized agencies' authority to promulgate
the means by which OPRA requests may be submitted. See Paff v. City of
East Orange, 407 N.J. Super. 221 (App. Div. May 21, 2009); Paff v.
Bordentown Fire District No. 2 (Burlington), 2012-158 (August 27, 2013).
The Department of Law and Public Safety does not accept OPRA requests via
email pursuant to N.J.A.C. 13:1E-2.4(a), which states that "[s]ubmission
of requests by e-mail or facsimile transmission is not permitted." This
Department does provide for alternate reasonable means of submission.
While you do not need to fill out the official paper form, you do need to
submit your request in one of the accepted manners: hard copy
correspondence or via the State's online OPRA form.
Finally, as noted in the prior email, the Office of the Attorney General
does not have the records you seek. The Division of State Police, would
be the appropriate agency to submit your request to. The Division of
State Police has a separate records custodian and maintains its own
records. You will need to resubmit your request to the Division of State
Police directly through one of the methods provided for under N.J.A.C.
13:1E-2.4. If you do not wish to mail in the request to State Police,
you can use the State’s online OPRA portal to submit your request:
[1]https://www-njlib.state.nj.us/NJ_OPRA/de...
Ivonnely Colon-Fung, Deputy Attorney General
Law & Public Safety – OAG Custodian of Records
Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex
25 Market Street, P.O. Box 081
Trenton, N.J. 08625
Phone: (609) 984-6998