New Jersey Libertarian Party Open Government Advocacy Project: Atlantic County Insurer Group issues "OPRA Bulletin."

Issue Detail:

 

On June 26, 2009, the Atlantic County Municipal Joint Insurance Fund Association (ACMJIFA) sent an "OPRA Bulletin" to approximately forty municipal clerks, advising them that regarding Mercer County Assignment Judge Feinberg's May 21, 2009 unpublished opinion in Getts v. Mercer County Clerk's Office (Docket No. MER-L-696-07). (The Getts opinion is at http://ogtf.lpcnj.org/2009179Uo//Getts.pdf the clerks who received the Bulletin are at http://www.acmjif.org/members/acm-members.html) As previously reported here, Feinberg held that OPRA requires custodians to charge the ACTUAL COST for photocopying records and that the 75c/50c/25c copying fee schedule merely establishes a MAXIMUM COST for records. In other words, according to Feinberg, if it costs the town a nickle to make a copy, they have to charge requestors a nickle for a copy and it is irrelevant that the OPRA statute sets a maximum charge of seventy-five cents. My original posting on the Getts decision is at http://njopengovt.blogspot.com/2009/05/actual-cost-v-opras-75-cent50-cent25-c.html In its Bulletin, the ACMJIFA said that while Feinberg's opinion is nonbinding, it is highly likely that this determination will become law." The Bulletin goes on to say that "What that means is that public entities are still permitted to charge the maximum rate permitted by the Statute; however, if and when the law changes, there may be applications for refunds if you in fact charged more than the actual costs." The Bulletin also advises that when responsive documents are sent to a requestor via e-mail attachments, the ACMJIFA "recommend[s] that there should be no charge.

Documents:

• This Index File
• ACMJIFA OPRA Bulletin

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New Jersey Libertarian Party Open Government Advocacy Project: Atlantic County Insurer Group issues "OPRA Bulletin.". June 29, 2009.
URL: http://ogtf.lpcnj.org/2009179U7/
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