CUSTODIAN CLARIFICATION REQUEST TO OPRA REQUEST 451-2024

June 12, 2024

Your request: 1. A list of property addresses that have received any code
violation since the beginning of the year. Please provider the type of
violation.

2. A list of all residential property addresses that are currently vacant
or abandoned.

3. A list of all residential property addresses that are currently
delinquent on taxes / Utilities.

Please put all lists in separate Excel files. PDF is ok too. If up-to-date
data is not available, Please provide the most recently available
information

At this time, your request is overly broad and unclear, and I am therefore
requesting clarification. Your request is overly broad, unclear and fails
to specify the documents you are seeking with particularity and would
require the custodian to research which documents are responsive. 
Currently, your request is for a class of various documents rather than a
request for a specific identifiable government record and OPRA does not
require custodians to research files to discern which records may be
responsive to a request.  The request you have submitted fails to identify
with reasonable clarity the specific government records sought, as is
required by Bent v. Stafford Police Department, 381 N.J.Super. 30, 37
(App. Div.  2005). The New Jersey Superior Court has held that “OPRA … 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.” MAG
Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J.
Super. 534, 546 (App. Div. 2005).  In short, OPRA does not countenance
open-ended searches of an agency’s files.”  (Emphasis added.)  Id. at
549.  Further, in Bent, the Appellate Division held that a proper request
under OPRA must identify with reasonable clarity those documents that are
desired, and a party cannot satisfy this requirement by simply requesting
all of an agency’s documents.”  Please identify with reasonable clarity
the documents that you are seeking on or before June 21, 2024.

Sincerely,

Kat Imberti

Atlantic County Dept. of Law

County Counsel Office

1333 Atlantic Avenue., 8th Floor

Atlantic City, New Jersey 08401

Phone:  (609) 345-6700, ext. 2279

Fax:      (609) 343-2373

Email: [email address]

CUSTODIAN RESPONSE TO OPRA 451-2024

June 25, 2024

You have submitted an Open Public Records Request and have indicated your
preferred method of delivery is email.

Your request: . A list of property addresses that have received any code
violation since the beginning of the year. Please provider the type of
violation.

2. A list of all residential property addresses that are currently vacant
or abandoned.

3. A list of all residential property addresses that are currently
delinquent on taxes / Utilities.

Please put all lists in separate Excel files. PDF is ok too. If up-to-date
data is not available, Please provide the most recently available
information

Please be advised that your request is being denied as overly broad and
for failure to provide clarification.  We were unable to process your
request because you failed to provide the clarification that was requested
on June 12,2024.  As explained in the June 12, 2024 email, your request is
broad, unclear and fails to specify the documents you are seeking with
particularity and would require the custodian to research which documents
are responsive. Your request fails to identify with reasonable clarity the
specific government records sought, as is required by Bent v. Stafford
Police Department, 381 N.J.Super. 30, 37 (App. Div.  2005). The New Jersey
Superior Court has held that “OPRA … 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.” MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Division of
Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 546 (App. Div. 2005).  In
short, OPRA does not countenance open-ended searches of an agency’s
files.”  (Emphasis added.)  Id. at 549.  Further, in Bent, the Appellate
Division held that a proper request under OPRA must identify with
reasonable clarity those documents that are desired, and a party cannot
satisfy this requirement by simply requesting all of an agency’s
documents.”

Sincerely,

Kat Imberti

Atlantic County Dept. of Law

County Counsel Office

1333 Atlantic Avenue., 8th Floor

Atlantic City, New Jersey 08401

Phone:  (609) 345-6700, ext. 2279

Fax:      (609) 343-2373

Email:   [email address]