PTC October Meeting 2021 , Agenda and Minutes
Dear New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice,
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 TRAINING COMMISSION MEETING FOR Wednesday, October 6, 2021. – Requesting agenda AND minutes
Yours faithfully,
anonymous
Dear Requestor,
On December 13, 2021, you sent an electronic communication to an email account associated with the Division of Criminal Justice that may have been seeking access to government records under the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA). Please be advised that pursuant to N.J.A.C. 13:1E-2 and long-standing Law and Public Safety (L&PS) policy and practice, submission of OPRA requests by facsimile transmission or email 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 email is not permitted.”
This restriction is supported by New Jersey case law. In Paff v. City of East Orange, 407 N.J. Super. 221, 224 (App. Div. 2009), the Appellate Division held, “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).”
For these reasons, the Division is unable to accept your email as a valid OPRA request.
You may file an OPRA request online by using the Online Request Form Portal found at https://www-njlib.state.nj.us/NJ_OPRA/de.... The online OPRA request process was designed for the ease and convenience of requesters. You are not required to submit your OPRA request by using the online portal. However, if you choose not to use the portal, you are required to submit your OPRA request in writing. You may also use the attached form or submit a written letter to the address below.
Division of Criminal Justice
Attn: OPRA Custodian
25 Market Street, 5th Floor
Trenton, NJ 08625
Thank you.