GRC Issues Guidance on COVID-19 Impacts on OPRA
As previously addressed on this blog, on March 20, 2020, Governor Murphy signed Assembly Bill No. 3849 into law which relaxes the deadline by which public agencies are required to respond to requests for government records under the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) during a period of a declared emergency, such as the current COVID-19 health crisis. On March 26, 2020 the Government Records Council (“GRC”) issued a special statement regarding the modification.
Under normal circumstances, the custodian of records of a public agency must respond to an OPRA request within seven (7) business days by either granting access to the government record or denying access. However, during a State declared emergency, public health emergency, or state of local disaster emergency, the custodian must make a reasonable effort, as the circumstances permit, to respond to a request for access to a government record within seven (7) business days or as soon as possible thereafter.
In discussing “reasonable efforts,” the GRC advised that the custodian of records is required to respond in writing within seven (7) business days that an extension to a date certain is needed. The custodian should articulate the reason(s) for the extension, which may include retrieval of records located in storage, archives, or off-site; conversion of the records to a different medium; building access restrictions; and/or delay in available personnel needed to provide responsive records.
The GRC also recommends that the public agency advise the public (i.e., via its website) whether the transmission of OPRA requests has changed.
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