Dear Ms. Lipton:

In the past few days, the Office of the Attorney General – Citizens
Services has received a number of e-mails from you in which you may be
seeking to request access to government records under the New Jersey Open
Public Records Act (OPRA) from one or more divisions in the Department of
Law and Public Safety (L&PS).

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, 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.

For these reasons, I am not able to accept your recent e-mails as valid
OPRA requests.

You can file OPRA requests on-line with the Division of State Police, the
Division of Law, the Office of the Attorney General and most other
Executive Branch departments and agencies in New Jersey.  Log onto
www.njpublicsafety.com/opra/index.html to get to the Department of Law and
Public Safety OPRA website.  Once you are logged onto that page, look at
the left-hand column and click on the third item "Online Request Form". 
That will take you to a pull-up menu of State departments;  if, for
example, you wish to file an OPRA request with one of the divisions of
L&PS, the Division of State Police, click on "Law and Public Safety". 
That will take you to a pull-up menu of L&PS divisions;  click on
"Division of State Police".  That will take you to the online OPRA Request
Form for the Division of State Police.  Fill in the information on that
form (the aqua boxes are mandatory fields) and when you click "Submit",
three things will happen:  1.  Your request will be entered into the
State's OPRA Tracking System;  2.  You will receive an acknowledgment with
a tracking number for your request;  and 3.  An e-mail notice regarding
your OPRA request will be sent to the Records Custodian for the Division
of State Police.

To submit a second request with another L&PS division, such as the Office
of the Attorney General, follow the process spelled out above, but when
you get to the pull-up menu for L&PS divisions, click on "Office of the
Attorney General".

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.

Thank you.

John Strachan

New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE The information contained in this communication
from the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General is privileged and
confidential and is intended for the sole use of the persons or entities
who are the addressees. If you are not an intended recipient of this
e-mail, the dissemination, distribution, copying or use of the information
it contains is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
communication in error, please immediately contact the Office of the
Attorney General at (609) 292-4925 to arrange for the return of this
information.

November 30, 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, 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.

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 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
[email address]

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE The information contained in this communication from the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General is privileged and confidential and is intended for the sole use of the persons or entities who are the addressees. If you are not an intended recipient of this e-mail, the dissemination, distribution, copying or use of the information it contains is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately contact the Office of the Attorney General at (609) 292-4925 to arrange for the return of this information.