OPRA request: police payroll records 2012-2019
Dear Cliffside Park Borough,
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:
For all employees who worked in the police department at any point of time from 2012-2019:
Please provide the name, hire date, current status (whether active or separated), and date of separation.
Yours faithfully,
Necon
June 5, 2020
via electronic mail
Taeho Kim; Necon
[OPRA #13278 email]
RE: OPRA request dated May 28, 2020
Dear Requestor:
The Borough of Cliffside Park received your Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request on May 28, 2020. The seven (7) business day deadline to respond to your request is June 8, 2020. However, as of the New Jersey Legislature’s passage of Assembly Bill A3849 effective March 20, 2020, the seven business day deadline does not apply during a period declared as a state of emergency or public health emergency. During such a period of emergency, the Records Custodian must make a reasonable effort, as circumstances to permit, to respond to a request for government records within seven business days as soon as possible thereafter. By Executive Order No. 103, Governor Murphy declared a state of emergency and public health emergency throughout the State of New Jersey on March 9, 2020 and that Executive Order remains in effect.
Your OPRA request sought access to the following:
For all employees who worked in the police department at any point of time from 2012 – 2019: Please provide the name, hire date, current status (whether active or separated), and date of separation.
As a result of conditions directly related to the ongoing state of emergency, the Records Custodian is unable to respond to your request within seven business day. Reasonable effort is being made to address your request as soon as possible under the circumstances. A further response shall be provided when circumstances permit. Presently the estimated date for further response is June 19, 2020.
If your request for access to a government record pursuant to OPRA has been denied or unfilled within the seven (7) business days required by law, you have a right to challenge the decision 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 GRC 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.
Very truly yours,
SERCAN ZOKLU
Borough Clerk
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Sercan Zoklu, RMC
Municipal Clerk
Borough of Cliffside Park
525 Palisade Avenue
Cliffside Park, NJ 07010
Phone: (201) 313 - 2003
Fax: (201) 945 - 9823
[Cliffside Park Borough request email]
June 12, 2020
via electronic mail
Taeho Kim; Necon
[OPRA #13278 email]
RE: OPRA request dated May 28, 2020
Dear Requestor:
The Borough of Cliffside Park received your Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request on May 28, 2020. The seven (7) business day deadline to respond to your request is June 8, 2020. However, as of the New Jersey Legislature’s passage of Assembly Bill A3849 effective March 20, 2020, the seven business day deadline does not apply during a period declared as a state of emergency or public health emergency. During such a period of emergency, the Records Custodian must make a reasonable effort, as circumstances to permit, to respond to a request for government records within seven business days as soon as possible thereafter.
By Executive Order No. 103, Governor Murphy declared a state of emergency and public health emergency throughout the State of New Jersey on March 9, 2020 and that Executive Order remains in effect. On June 5, 2020 the Records Custodian informed you that the estimated date of response to your request was June 19, 2020.
Your OPRA request sought access to the following:
For all employees who worked in the police department at any point of time from 2012 – 2019: Please provide the name, hire date, current status (whether active or separated), and date of separation.
The personnel records of any individual in the possession of a public agency shall not be considered a government record and shall not be made available for public access except that an individual’s name and date of separation shall be a government record to which the public is entitled to have access in accordance with the Open Public Records Act. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10. Enclosed you will find a document (5 pages) containing the name and date of separation of employees of the Cliffside Park Police Department during the period January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2019.
To constitute a public record pursuant to the common law the subject document must be a written memorial made by a public officer authorized by law to make it. Nero v. Hyland, 76 N.J. 213, 222 (1978); Loigman v. Kimmelman, 102 N.J. 98 (1986). Furthermore, one who makes a request for access to a public record made pursuant to common law must identify his legally recognized interest in the subject matter contained in the record to allow the Custodian to determine whether the requestor’s right of access outweighs the governmental agency’s interest in preventing disclosure. Loigman, supra at 104. Your request does not pertain to documents made by a public officer authorized by law to make them nor does your request identify any legally recognized interest in the subject matter contained in the record. For these reasons, your request made pursuant to the common law right of access is denied.
If your request for access to a government record pursuant to OPRA has been denied or unfilled within the time required by law, you have a right to challenge the decision 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 GRC 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.
Very truly yours,
SERCAN ZOKLU
Borough Clerk
Attachment
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Sercan Zoklu, RMC
Municipal Clerk
Borough of Cliffside Park
525 Palisade Avenue
Cliffside Park, NJ 07010
Phone: (201) 313 - 2003
Fax: (201) 945 - 9823
[Cliffside Park Borough request email]