A Capehart Scatchard Blog

Tag: Open Public Records Act

N.J. Supreme Court Declines Awarding Attorney Fees Under Common Law Right of Public Access

By: Ruhani K. Aulakh, Law Clerk Editor: Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. On June 20, 2023, the New Jersey Supreme Court in Gannett Satellite Info. Network, LLC v. Township. of Neptune declined to adopt an exception to the American Rule for attorneys’ fees under common law right of access claims to public records, which requires each party to pay its own fees in civil litigation.  The Court held that expanding the four categories of exceptions to the American Rule to include attorneys’ fees under the common law right of access would violate public policy.  A former police officer employed by Neptune […]

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35 Second Video Surveillance Footage Disclosable Under OPRA and Common Law Right of Access

On June 29, 2023, the New Jersey Appellate Division issued an unpublished opinion in the matter of Zezza v. Evesham Board of Education.  The appeal arose from a citizen’s request under the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) and the common law right of access, for approximately thirty-five (35) seconds of surveillance footage taken from two cameras at an elementary school within the Evesham Township School District (“District”).  The District denied the request for the video footage on the basis of the security exception to OPRA and the case of Gilleran v. Twp. of Bloomfield, 227 N.J. 159 (2016) for the […]

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No Denial of Access Under OPRA Where Request Submitted to Incorrect Entity

On April 20, 2023 the New Jersey Appellate Division decided an Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) matter in the case of Owoh v. City of Camden, 2023 N.J. Super. Unpub.  LEXIS 597 (App. Div. Apr. 20, 2023).  The Appellate Division determined the City of Camden (“City”) did not deny access to requested police records and the City was not obligated to retrieve the records from the County of Camden (“County”) a separate public entity.  The firm successfully represented the City on appeal. Plaintiff-Respondents, Rotimi Owoh, o/b/o African American Data and Research Institute, and Baffi Simmons (“Owoh”) filed an OPRA request […]

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Students’ Initials Can Be Redacted in Response to an OPRA Request

By: Angela Reading, Law Clerk Editor: Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. On September 29, 2022, the New Jersey Appellate Division in L.R. o/b/o J.R. v. Cherry Hill Board of Education issued a published decision affirming a ruling by the Superior Court of New Jersey, which held that a district could redact all parent and student information, including initials, when providing settlement agreements in response to an Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) request. In this case, the plaintiff, the mother of a student with a disability, made an OPRA request to the defendant Cherry Hill Board of Education (“Board”) for all settlement […]

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School District Counsel Not Considered a Custodian Under OPRA

By: Angela Reading, Law Clerk.Editor: Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. On June 21, 2022, the New Jersey Appellate Division in S.W. v. Elizabeth Board of Education confirmed in an unpublished opinion that a request made under the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) to an attorney for a public entity is invalid. The Appellate Division held that OPRA explicitly requires a request for access to a government record to be “to the appropriate custodian,” and counsel for a board of education is not a custodian within the meaning of OPRA under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g). This case arose from a special education due process […]

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Settlement Agreements of IDEA Cases in the OAL Are Disclosable Under OPRA

By: Angela Reading, Law Clerk Editor: Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. On May 18, 2022, the New Jersey Appellate Division issued a published decision in the case of C.E. v. Elizabeth Public School District, in which the Court held that settlement agreements resolving Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) disputes that have been docketed in the Office of Administrative Law (“OAL”) and final decisions incorporating or pertaining to those settlement agreements are subject to disclosure under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”).   Prior to this decision, boards of education typically deemed all special education settlement agreements as confidential student […]

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N.J. Supreme Court Rules that OPRA Requires Disclosure of Settlement Agreements with Public Employees

By: Becky Batista, Law Clerk Editor: Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. On March 7, 2022, the New Jersey Supreme Court reversed a decision by the Appellate Division in Libertarians and Transparent Government v. Cumberland County and determined that a settlement agreement between a former corrections officer and his employer, Defendant Cumberland County (“County”) is subject to disclosure under the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”). Plaintiff sought a settlement agreement wherein the former County corrections officer admitted to “improper fraternization” with two female inmates and bringing contraband into the jail. Plaintiff requested this agreement and specific information about the officer’s separation of […]

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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 […]

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OPRA Deadlines Relaxed Amid Declared Emergencies

Editor: Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. As a result of the public health crisis of COVID-19, on March 20, 2020, Governor Murphy signed Assembly Bill No. 3849 into law which modifies the deadline by which public agencies are required to respond to requests for government records during the period of a declared emergency.  Normally, under the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”), the custodian of records for public agencies has seven (7) business days to respond to a request made for government records by either granting access to the government record or by denying access.  Failure to respond within the seven (7) […]

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N.J. Supreme Court Rules on Student Records Issue – Part 2

Editor: Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. In last week’s article, we discussed the New Jersey Supreme Court’s decision in L.R. v. Camden City Public School District, focusing on the Court’s decision to extend the protections for student records under the New Jersey Pupil Records Act (“NJPRA”) to include redacted records. In its decision in L.R., the Court also affirmed the Appellate Division’s holding that a requestor could gain access to student records if they fell within one of the categories of “authorized” individuals and entities identified in N.J.A.C. 6A:32-7.5(e)(1) through (16). Specifically, the Appellate Division suggested, that the requestors could seek […]

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