- Dean Smith
ICU Does Not Overlook the Opportunity to Utilize OPRA Requests
OPRA requests are one of the best tools the public has to obtain government information on a state, county, or municipal level. This New Jersey law is often overlooked as a means to collect public information, but the New Jersey Open Public Records Act mandates that the public agency produces the record requested within seven business days of receiving the request.
We can request records from specific departments (then an agency within that department) such as:
Agriculture
Banking and insurance
Children and families
Civil service commission
Commissions and agencies
Community affairs
Corrections
Education
Environmental protection
Office of Governor
Health
Human Services
Labor
Law and public safety
Military and veterans affairs
State
Transportation
Treasury
And many more!
It is important to remember that some records are exempt from disclosure. Exempt records are listed below:
Criminal Investigation Records
Records relating to an ongoing investigation
Personnel/pension records (with some exceptions)
Inter- or intra-agency advisory
Consultative or deliberative material (drafts of documents)
Records protected by court order
Records protected by attorney-client privilege
Job applicant records
Fingerprint cards
Illegitimacy records
Records that would substantially impair the state’s ability to defend against sabotage or terrorism
Legislative records
Medical examiner records
Victims’ records
Trade secrets and proprietary commercial or financial information
Administrative or technical information regarding computer hardware, software and networks which, if disclosed would jeopardize computer security
Emergency or security information or procedures for buildings or facilities which, if disclosed, would jeopardize security of the building or facility or persons therein
Security measures and surveillance techniques which, if disclosed, would create a risk to the safety or persons, property, electronic data or software
Information which, if disclosed, would give an advantage to competitors or bidders.
Information generated by or on behalf of public employers or public employees in connection with:
Any sexual harassment complain filed with a public employer
Any grievance filed by or against an individual
Collective negotiations including documents and statement of strategy o0r negotiating position
Information which is a communication between a public agency and its insurance carrier, administrative service organization or risk management offic
Certificate of honorable discharge issued by the US government filed with a public agency
Personal identifying information (social security numbers, credit card numbers, unlisted telephone numbers, drivers’ license numbers)
Certain records of higher education institutions (academic research records, test questions/scoring keys/etc)
Biotechnology trade secrets
Limitations to convicts – personal information pertaining to the person’s victim or the victim’s family, including but not limited to a victim’s home address, home telephone number, work or school address, work telephone number, social security account number, medical history or any other identifying information
Public defender records that relate to the handling of any case
Privacy Interest – “a public agency has a responsibility and an obligation to safeguard from public access a citizen’s personal information with which it has been entrusted when disclosure thereof would violate the citizen’s reasonable expectation of privacy.”
Posted in News | Tagged government, opra, records, requests