Via E-Mail [[1][OPRA #41433 email]]

         Re:         OPRA received April 3, 2023

Dear Sir or Madam:

The Morris County Sheriff’s Office (“Sheriff’s Office”) records custodian
received your Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) and common law request
(“Request”) on April 3, 2023. The seven business day deadline to respond
to your Request is April 13, 2023. As such, the Sheriff’s Office is timely
responding to your Request in accordance with New Jersey law.

Your Request seeks the following records:

 1. Number of Morris Township Police Department responses to the Morris
County Correctional Facility between 1/1/2018 and 1/1/2023,
specifically for any mutual aid/assistance, calls for service, law
enforcement responses, and/or routine calls.

 2. CAD reports/entries (lawful redactions are acceptable) for all Morris
Township Police Department responses to the Morris County Correctional
Facility between 1/1/2018 and 1/1/2023 specifically for any mutual
aid/assistance, calls for service, law enforcement responses, and/or
routine calls.

 3. Any and all requests by local/municipal (non-county, state or federal
level) law enforcement agencies to move an incarcerated person
(inmate) to another facility without a court order or order from a
judge.

With respect to items 1 and 2 of your Request, please note that the
Sheriff’s Office does not possess the requested records, and suggests that
you contact Morris Township for any further inquiries regarding same.

With respect to item 3 of your Request, please be advised that your
request is overly broad, as it fails to identify with reasonable clarity
any particular records sought. OPRA operates to make identifiable
government records “readily accessible for inspection, copying, or
examination.” N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1. New Jersey courts have consistently held
that OPRA does not countenance open-ended searches of an agency’s files.
MAG Entm’t, LLC v. Div. of ABC, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 549 (App. Div. 2005);
New Jersey Builders Ass’n v. New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing, 390
N.J. Super. 166 (App. Div.), cert. denied, 190 N.J. 394 (2007).
Consequently, 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 e.g.,
Spectraserv, Inc. v. Middlesex Cty. Utilities Auth., 416 N.J. Super. 565,
576 (App. Div. 2010); Bent v. Twp. of Stafford Police Dep’t, 381 N.J.
Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 2005). OPRA requests may not be a broad generic
description of documents that require the custodian to search the agency’s
files and “analyze, compile, and collate” the requested information. Id.;
see also Lagerkvist v. Office of Governor of State, 443 N.J. Super. 230,
237 (App. Div. 2015) (holding that OPRA does not convert a custodian into
a researcher, which would have been the effect of the request). Here, your
request is clearly deficient as it purportedly seeks “any and all
requests” of law enforcement agencies to move incarcerated persons to
other facilities without court orders, and purports to require the
Sheriff’s Office’s records custodian to conduct research with respect to
same. See Parreott v. Asbury Park School District, GRC Complaint Nos.
2016-20 & 2016-39 (Sept. 2017) (holding that the portion of the request
seeking “all relevant documents” was invalid because it sought a class of
various records and would have required the records custodian to conduct
research in order to locate responsive records); see also Burke v. Ocean
Cty., 2013 WL 6169154 (App. Div. 2013) (holding that an OPRA request is
not the equivalent of law suit discovery). Accordingly, your Request is
invalid as it does not comport with OPRA’s specificity requirements.

Lastly, to the extent that you are also requesting any records under the
common law right of access, your Request is also denied.  In O’Boyle v.
Borough of Longport, 218 N.J. 168, 196 (2014), the Supreme Court of New
Jersey held that the party requesting documents under the common law right
of access must explain why he seeks access to the requested documents. 
Here, your Request lacks any explanation with respect to your purported
interest in accessing the materials at issue. Accordingly, the Sheriff’s
Office is also denying your Request under the common law right of access.

In sum, your Request is denied in its entirety.

Your Request is now deemed answered and closed. Thank you for your
attention to this matter.

Very truly yours,

Mark Chiarolanza

Confidential Assistant – Public Information

BWCs – OPRA Management

Class II Special Law Enforcement Officer

MCSO Det. Capt. – ret.

Morris County Sheriff's Office

P.O. Box 900

Morristown, New Jersey [2]07963-0900

Office: [3]973.285.6819

Fax: [4]973.285.6609

Email: [5][email address]

MCSO web: [6]www.sheriff.morriscountynj.gov

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Thank you.

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