Does a public agency have to respond to OPRA requests within seven (7) calendar days during the COVID-19 outbreak?

As of March 20, 2020, both houses of the New Jersey State Legislature have passed bills (Nos. A3849 and S2302) which remove the deadlines by which a public agency is required under the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”), N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., to respond to requests for government records during a state of emergency, public health emergency or state of local disaster emergency. However, the custodian of a government record must make a reasonable effort, as the circumstances permit, to respond to the request within seven (7) business days or as soon as possible thereafter.
3/20/2020 Approved P.L .2020, c.10.

Records will be available as soo as possible

Manchester Township Clerk's Office

-----Original Message-----
From: Resident [mailto:[OPRA #17137 email]]
Sent: Sunday, October 4, 2020 12:31 AM
To: Clerk <[email address]>
Subject: OPRA request - Police dispatch logs

WARNING: This email may have originated outside of the Manchester email system.

DO NOT CLICK links or attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
________________________________

Dear Manchester Township,

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:

Police dispatch logs of all incidents of police dispatched to the following locations from 1/1/2010-present:

15 E. Moccasin Drive
38 Pine Ridge Boulevard
912 Oak Ridge Terrace
594A Burtons Court
594B Burtons Court
594C Burtons Court

Yours sincerely,

Resident

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Please use deliver records electronically via email to the below UNIQUE address for all replies to this request:
[OPRA #17137 email]

Is [Manchester Township request email] the wrong address for OPRA requests to Manchester Township? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://opramachine.com/change_request/n...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://opramachine.com/help/officers

View this OPRA request & responses online:
https://opramachine.com/request/police_d...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an OPRA custodian, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's website.

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Good Morning,

The Township of Manchester received your Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests on October 5, 2020. The official Records Custodian Sabina T Martin, received your OPRA request on the same date. As such, the seven (7) business day deadline to respond to your request is October 15, 2020. However, as of March 20, 2020, both houses of the New Jersey State Legislature have passed bills (Nos. A3849 and S2302) which remove the deadlines by which a public agency is required under the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”), N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., to respond to requests for government records during a state of emergency, public health emergency or state of local disaster emergency. However, the custodian of a government record must make a reasonable effort, as the circumstances permit, to respond to the request within seven (7) business days or as soon as possible thereafter. 3/20/2020 Approved P.L .2020, c.10.

This response to your request is being provided to you on the 3rd business day after the custodian’s receipt of said request.

Your request requires additional time beyond the seven (7) business days to fulfill. OPRA allows custodians to seek extensions of time pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.i. Specifically, OPRA states that, “the requestor shall be advised by the custodian when the record can be made available. If the record is not made available by that time, access shall be deemed denied.”

Your request is asking for records of a period of 10 years, a fourteen (14) business day extension is needed to fulfill this records request. Available records will be available no later than November 4, 2020.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office.

Sincerely,

Beth-Ellen Gencarelli
Manchester Township
Municipal Clerk's Office
732-657-8121 X3200
732-657-2071 (fax)

-----Original Message-----
From: Resident [mailto:[OPRA #17137 email]]
Sent: Sunday, October 4, 2020 12:31 AM
To: Clerk <[email address]>
Subject: OPRA request - Police dispatch logs

WARNING: This email may have originated outside of the Manchester email system.

DO NOT CLICK links or attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
________________________________

Dear Manchester Township,

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:

Police dispatch logs of all incidents of police dispatched to the following locations from 1/1/2010-present:

15 E. Moccasin Drive
38 Pine Ridge Boulevard
912 Oak Ridge Terrace
594A Burtons Court
594B Burtons Court
594C Burtons Court

Yours sincerely,

Resident

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use deliver records electronically via email to the below UNIQUE address for all replies to this request:
[OPRA #17137 email]

Is [Manchester Township request email] the wrong address for OPRA requests to Manchester Township? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://opramachine.com/change_request/n...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://opramachine.com/help/officers

View this OPRA request & responses online:
https://opramachine.com/request/police_d...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an OPRA custodian, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's website.

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Good Morning,

The records you are requesting have been completed. There is a fee of $13.55 for all records. Once fee is received we can mail out the records to you, or you have the option to pick them up records.

This file will be extremely large, After we received the fee, I will be happy to try and send the records in multiple emails. I was also informed it important that the document stay in the order they are in.

Please let me know how you are going to proceed.

You are welcome to call with any questions.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office.

Sincerely,

Beth-Ellen Gencarelli
Manchester Township
Municipal Clerk's Office
732-657-8121 X3201
732-657-2071 (fax)

-----Original Message-----
From: Resident [mailto:[OPRA #17137 email]]
Sent: Sunday, October 4, 2020 12:31 AM
To: Clerk <[email address]>
Subject: OPRA request - Police dispatch logs

WARNING: This email may have originated outside of the Manchester email system.

DO NOT CLICK links or attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
________________________________

Dear Manchester Township,

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:

Police dispatch logs of all incidents of police dispatched to the following locations from 1/1/2010-present:

15 E. Moccasin Drive
38 Pine Ridge Boulevard
912 Oak Ridge Terrace
594A Burtons Court
594B Burtons Court
594C Burtons Court

Yours sincerely,

Resident

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use deliver records electronically via email to the below UNIQUE address for all replies to this request:
[OPRA #17137 email]

Is [Manchester Township request email] the wrong address for OPRA requests to Manchester Township? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://opramachine.com/change_request/n...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://opramachine.com/help/officers

View this OPRA request & responses online:
https://opramachine.com/request/police_d...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an OPRA custodian, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's website.

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hide quoted sections