Dear Paterson City,

Please accept this electronic request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form or use a particular software platform to submit my request per NJSA 47:1A-5(f), which states that an email from a requestor including all of the information required on the adopted form shall suffice in place of a completed form as a valid government record request.

I HAVE NOT been convicted of any indictable offense under the laws of New Jersey, any other state, or the United States.

I WILL NOT use the requested government records for a commercial purpose.

I AM NOT seeking records in connection with a legal proceeding.

Records requested:
1) roster of all currently employed Law Enforcement Officers including name, rank, badge number, and status (active, suspended, etc.)

My preferred delivery method for response(s) to this request is by E-mail as attachment(s). Please confirm you have received this request. If you are not the custodian of records, please forward my request to that person and provide their email address to me for future reference.

Thank you very much for your help.

Yours faithfully,

Charlie Kratovil

Dear Paterson City,

Please confirm if you received my OPRA request for the police department roster with badge numbers.

Yours faithfully,

Charlie Kratovil

OK, when can I expect to receive the responsive records/information?

Yours sincerely,

Charlie Kratovil

Dear Ms. Hilbert,

I acknowledge receipt of your January 13, 2026 email extending the response time for my OPRA request initially filed on December 30, 2025.

Your email only stated that the city "requires" additional time to "satisfy" my request. No reasons or circumstances justifying any of the extensions were ever identified.

The 2024 amendments to the Open Public Records Act (L. 2024, c. 16, § 2 (effective September 3, 2024)) added the following sentence to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(i) and clarify the circumstances under which extensions to OPRA’s response deadline are justified: "In the event a records custodian is unable to fulfill a records request due to unforeseen circumstances or circumstances that otherwise reasonably necessitate additional time to fulfill the records request, the custodian shall be entitled to a reasonable extension of any response deadline and shall notify the requestor of the time extension within seven business days after receiving the request."

In its Eighth Edition (January 2025) update to the Custodian Handbook, the Government Records Council (GRC) states at page 21:

What if I need more time to respond to an OPRA request?

In accordance with P.L. 2024, c. 16, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(i)(1) now contemplates two (2) types of extensions:
▪ If records are in storage or archived, a custodian may take an extension not to exceed twenty-one (21) business days from the date the requestor is notified of the extension.
▪ If there exist "unforeseen circumstances or circumstances that otherwise necessitate additional time," a custodian may take an extension of time that is reasonable. See Ciccarone v. N.J. Dep't of Treasury, GRC Complaint No. 2013-280 (Interim Order dated July 29, 2014).

Custodians should continue to provide the specific date certain, and not a vague time frame, on which the extended time frame will end. Failure to grant or deny access by the extended deadline date results in a deemed denial of the request.

Compare this to the language contained on page 18 of the Seventh Edition (November 2022) of the Custodian’s Handbook:

What if I need more time to respond to an OPRA request?

Custodians may seek extensions of time beyond the seven (7) business day deadline for legitimate reasons (e.g., the record is in use or in storage). N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(i). Custodians must request an extension from the requestor in writing, within the statutorily mandated seven (7) business days and provide an anticipated deadline date upon which the records will be provided. The length of the extension must be reasonable. Failure to grant or deny access by the extended deadline date results in a "deemed" denial of the request.

As reflected above, the Legislature has narrowed and clarified the circumstances justifying an extension, and the GRC has interpreted the statutory change accordingly. Under the current framework, unless the requested records are in storage or archived, an extension is justified only when "unforeseen circumstances or circumstances that otherwise necessitate additional time" exist.

Under both the pre- and post-amendment versions of OPRA, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6 places the burden of proof on the public agency to demonstrate that any denial or delay of access is authorized by law. Because the City’s OPRA extensions have thus far failed to identify the "unforeseen circumstances or circumstances that otherwise necessitate additional time" relied upon, I am unable to evaluate whether the extensions are reasonable.

Accordingly, please identify:

(1) The specific circumstance you believe either constitutes an unforeseen event or otherwise reasonably necessitates additional time; and
(2) Why that circumstance made compliance by the original statutory deadline, and the delayed deadline pursuant to your 14 business day extension, impracticable.

I believe the City has failed to provide a date certain when requesting the extension, and nevertheless failed to grant access by the extended deadline, and thus this request is already a deemed denial. Will you be providing the information requested or not?

Yours sincerely,

Charlie Kratovil

Dear Paterson City,
What is the status of my request from last year: Police Department Roster with Badge Numbers?

Yours faithfully,

Charlie Kratovil