Good Afternoon,

Your request for records is being denied for being overly broad and would
require the Township to complete research to identify said documents,
which is not required under OPRA. Requests must be made for specific
identifiable documents to allow the Township to reasonably search for said
documents rather than research to determine which documents may or may not
be responsive (See Donato v. Township of Union, GRC Complaint No. 2005-182
(February 2007), and Burnett v. County of Gloucester, (App. Div. 2010).
Additional case law confirming same is as follows:

 Lagerkvist v. Office of the Governor, 443 N.J. Super. 230 (App. Div.
2015): Here, the court held that Defendant’s statement that the otherwise
invalid request was “unclear” was adequate when paired with applicable
case law. Further, the court reasoned that the Plaintiff’s request:

[W]ould have had to make a preliminary determination as to which travel
records correlated to the governor and to his senior officials, past and
present, over a span of years. The custodian would then have had to
attempt to single out those which were third-party funded events. Next, he
would have had to collect all documents corresponding to those events and
search to ensure he had accumulated everything, including both paper and
electronic correspondence. OPRA does not convert a custodian into a
researcher, Id. at 237. The court finally held that Defendant was under
no obligation to accomplish a “reasonable solution” when a request is
invalid because it is overly broad. The court disagreed with Plaintiff’s
argument that the “substantial disruption” portion of OPRA at N.J.S.A.
47:1A-5(g) required custodians to attempt to reach a reasonable
accommodation when responding to an overly broad request.

MAG Entm’t, LLC v. Div. of Alcohol Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534
(App. Div. 2005): The Court held that "[w]hile OPRA provides an
alternative means of access to government documents not otherwise exempted
from its reach, it is not intended as a research tool litigants may use to
force government officials to identify and siphon useful information.
Rather, OPRA simply operates to make identifiable government records
‘readily accessible for inspection, copying, or examination.’ N.J.S.A.
47:1A-1." (emphasis added). The Court further held that "[u]nder OPRA,
agencies are required to disclose only ‘identifiable’ government records
not otherwise exempt . . . In short, OPRA does not countenance open-ended
searches of an agency's files." Id. at 549 (emphasis added).

Thank you,

Kelly Mitch

Deputy Township Clerk
[1][IMG] Clerks Dept

[email address]

[2][IMG]  [3][IMG] 

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