December 6, 2017

Department of Law and Public Safety Custodian of Records

 

On Monday, November 20, 2017, Ask NJ Media Co. (Ask NJ) attempted to send
emails to thirteen (13) of the divisions and in-but-not-of agencies within
in the Department of Law and Public Safety (L&PS) by which Ask NJ may have
been seeking to request access to government records under the New Jersey
Open Public Records Act (OPRA).  I am writing to you on behalf of those
L&PS divisions and agencies in my role as the Custodian of Records for the
Department of Law and Public Safety.

 

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 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.

 

It is not known what email addresses you used; not all of your emails were
received by the proper custodian of records for the individual L&PS
divisions and/or agencies.  L&PS divisions and in-but-not-of agencies
include:  the Office of the Attorney General, the Division of Alcoholic
Beverage Control, the Division on Civil Rights, the Division of Consumer
Affairs, the Division of Criminal Justice, the Division of Gaming
Enforcement, the Division of Highway Traffic Safety, the Division of Law,
the Division of State Police, the New Jersey Racing Commission, the
Election Law Enforcement Commission, the State Ethics Commission, the
Juvenile Justice Commission and the Office of Homeland Security and
Preparedness.

 

For these reasons, the L&PS divisions and in-but-not-of agencies are not
able to accept your recent e-mails as valid OPRA requests.

 

The Division of Criminal Justice has not received any OPRA requests from
Ask NJ Media, and did not receive any email from Ask NJ Media, prior to
yesterday’s email (below).  You can file an OPRA request on-line with any
L&PS division or agency by using the Online Request Form found at the
Department of Law and Public Safety OPRA website
[2]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 written OPRA
requests, please be sure to mail them individually to the appropriate
division records custodians.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bruce J. Solomon

Deputy Attorney General

L&PS Custodian of Records

State of New Jersey

Office of the Attorney General

P.O. Box 081

Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0081

Phone:  (609) 376-2251

Fax:       (609) 984-5949

[3][email address]

 

 

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