Yearly forum reminds students of rights to public records

An activist and an attorney encouraged citizens to dig into their government’s records Wednesday night using the Open Public Records Act.
The forum sponsored by the University chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists took place in the Multipurpose Room in the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus.
The New Jersey Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project Chair John Paff and attorney Walter Luers discussed how citizens could unearth information using the act.
“By using OPRA, citizens can drill into the government very deeply,” Paff said.
The act serves the citizenry of New Jersey, said Luers, who specializes in cases dealing with OPRA and is a board member of the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government.
“It’s the tool by which members of the public can get copies of documents from public agencies,” Luers said.
The act applies to local, county and New Jersey state public agencies. Luers listed a few applicable agencies, including the University, public schools, county colleges, public agencies within New Brunswick, public water departments, public sewer departments and motor vehicle departments.
The act does not apply to the state judiciary or the state legislature, Luers said. Since OPRA is a state law, it is not applicable to the federal government.
OPRA requests must be made in writing, Luers said. Public agencies set the rules for how requests must be received and citizens should ask how agencies prefer to receive the requests before their submission.
Many agencies have official forms but all public agencies have to honor OPRA requests, he said. OPRA requests must be specific. Vague questions such as, “How many people work for the city?” are generally not answered.
“When you request records it’s important that you be specific, and you can’t ask a question. OPRA requests have to be for specific, identifiable documents,” Luers said. “The clerk is obligated to search for the documents but they’re not at all obligated to conduct research.”
Luers said documents can be provided via e-mail.
“Under most circumstances, when you ask for an electronic document, something that already exists, they can just pull it off their computer and e-mail it to you,” Luers said. “As government agencies come out of the Stone Age, and make more and more data and electronic documents as opposed to paper files, theoretically you should have access to all of that.”
A requester should pinpoint a period of time they see as crucial and avoid asking for large chunks of data if possible, Paff said.
“Ask for a week’s worth of the mayor’s e-mails,” Paff said.
OPRA requires government agencies to either grant or deny access to requested records within seven business days of the receipt of the request, he said.
“Failure of the records custodian to get back to the records requester within seven business days is considered a denial,” Paff said.
When a request is denied, a citizen should engage in dialogue with the records custodian, Luers said.
OPRA gives citizens an avenue to pursue legal recourse if the government fails to comply, Paff said.
“You’re trying to teach the public agency that life will be easier and cheaper if they work with you,” Luers said.
A denied requester can seek an attorney or proceed to file a complaint with the superior court or the Government Records Council, an agency located in Trenton charged with enforcing OPRA, Paff said.
The superior court is faster, generally answering within three months, Luers said. Government Records Council cases can take more than a year but cost no money.
Agencies are allowed to redact information from documents but must explain their reasoning, Paff said.
Luers said he has represented Paff in the past and will likely represent him in the future.
South Bound Brook resident Jan Barry said the forum provided citizens with useful tips and information.
“I’m amazed that in addition to students, there’s also a number of citizens from the towns,” said Barry, a former reporter. “What I thought was really great about this workshop was giving citizens some ideas as to how to they can make better use of OPRA.”
School of Arts and Sciences senior Charles Thomas said he did not know much about OPRA until he attended the forum.
Citizens might be discouraged by a lack of government transparency, but should not let it deter them, Thomas said.
“It also goes back to [an] old saying,” Thomas said. “If you keep bothering somebody, eventually they’re going to answer because they’re not going to want you in their presence.”