OPRA and Common Law
Dear Clark Township,
Pursuant to OPRA and right under the common law, we are seeking access to and a copy of:
(A) Complaint-Summons (CDR-1) from January 1, 2022 to January 31, 2022.
Very Respectfully,
Rise Against Hate, a 501(C)(3) Public Charity
Your request has been received 2/17/22 and needs clarification. Which department would maintain the record you are requesting? Is it a police record?
I will await your reply.
Edith L. Merkel, RMC
Township Clerk
Township of Clark
430 Westfield Ave.
Clark, NJ 07066
(732) 388-3669
Dear Clerk's Dept.,
The record would be generated by the police officers in their official courses of duty.
Yours sincerely,
Rise Against Hate
Thank you. I will forward your request to the custodian of police records.
Edith L. Merkel, RMC
Township Clerk
Township of Clark
430 Westfield Ave.
Clark, NJ 07066
(732) 388-3669
February 24, 2022
Rise Against Hate via opramachine.com
([OPRA #29544 email])
Dear Rise Against Hate,
The Clark Police Department received your Open Public Records Act (OPRA)
request on February 18, 2022. The official Records Custodian, Joann
Concina, received your OPRA request on February 18, 2022. As such, the
seven (7) business day deadline to respond to your request is March 3,
2022. This response to your request is being provided to you on the third
business day after the custodian’s receipt of said request.
The request below identifies the records that being denied in whole or in
part as well as the legal basis for each denial, as is required by
N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6.
(A) Complaint-Summons (CDR-1 from January 1, 2022 to January 31, 2022.
Please note that a blanket request for the entire contents of an agency’s
file is invalid. See Bent v. Stafford Police Dept., 381 N.J. Super. 30,37
(App. Div. 2005) (OPRA does not “authorize a party to make a blanket
request for every document a public agency has on file.”); Gannett N.J.
Partners LP v. Cnty. Of Middlesex, 379 N.J. Super. 205, 212 (App. Div.
2005) (citing MAG Entm’t, LLC v. Div. of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375
N.J. Super. 534, 546-49 (App. Div. 2005) (OPRA requires party requesting
access to a public record to specifically describe the document sought.”);
accord Spectraserv, Inc. v. Middlesex Cnty. Utilities Auth., 416 N.J.
Super. 565, 578 (App. Div. 2010) (finding OPRA request for “an entire
project file” improper because it failed to identify specific documents).
Accordingly, “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.” Bent, 381
N.J. Super. at 37.
Your request does not meet this requirement.
* A list of OPRA’s exemptions is attached to this response letter.
These records are being transmitted to you via email, as per your request.
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.b.
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 Clark Police Department 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 by toll-free telephone at 866-850-0511, by mail at
P.O. Box 819, Trenton, NJ, 08625, by e-mail at [email address], or at
their web site at 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.
Sincerely,
Joann Concina
Records Custodian
Records Dept. 732-381-5696
Fax: 732-388-5376
Clark Police Department
315 Westfield Avenue
Clark, NJ 07066
Non-Emergency: 732-388-3434