Dogs (Jersey City Mayor's Office)

Dear Carolyn Komatsoulis:
Thank you for your interest in open public records of Jersey City OPRA Center.  This will serve to acknowledge receipt of your Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request.  Your request was received in this office on 8/15/2018.  Kindly refer to the reference number R002406-081518 when communicating with our office in this regard.  Your request mentioned:

Your request will be forwarded to the relevant City department(s) to locate the information you seek and to determine the volume and any costs associated with satisfying your request. You will be contacted about the availability and/or provided with copies of the records in question.  PLEASE NOTE: The State Public Information Act does not require a governmental body to create new information, to do legal research, or to answer questions. You can track and monitor the progress of your request at the link below and you'll receive an email when your request has been completed. Again, thank you for using the Jersey City OPRA Center.
Jersey City, NJ
To monitor the progress or update this request please log into the
Jersey City OPRA Center. (https://jerseycity.mycusthelp.com/WEBAPP/_rs/supporthome.aspx)

--- Please respond above this line ---

RE: OPEN PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of August 15, 2018, Reference # R002406-081518
Carolyn Komatsoulis:
The City received a public information request from you on August 15, 2018. Your request mentioned:

Your request is denied as overly broad pursuant to MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534 (App. Div. 2005), Bent v. Stafford Police Department, 381 N.J. Super. 30 (App. Div. 2005) and New Jersey Builders Association v. New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing, 390  N.J.Super.  166 (App.  Div.  2007).
The New Jersey Superior Court has held that "[w]hile OPRA provides an alternative means of access to government documents not otherwise exempted from its reach, it is not intended as a research tool litigants may use to force government officials to identify and siphon useful information. Rather, OPRA simply operates to make identifiable government records ‘readily accessible for inspection, copying, or examination.’ N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1." MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 546 (App. Div. 2005). The Court further held that "[u]nder OPRA, agencies are required to disclose only "identifiable" government records not otherwise exempt ... In short, OPRA does not countenance open-ended searches of an agency's files." Id. at 549.
Furthermore, in Bent v. Stafford Police Department, 381 N.J. Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 2005), the Superior Court references MAG in that the Court held that a requestor must specifically describe the document sought because OPRA operates to make identifiable government records "accessible." "As such, a proper request under OPRA must identify with reasonable clarity those documents that are desired, and a party cannot satisfy this requirement by simply requesting all of an agency's documents."
Additionally, in New Jersey Builders Association v. New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing,  390  N.J.Super.  166,  180  (App.  Div.  2007)  the  court  cited  MAG  by  stating  that “...when a  request  is ‘complex’ because it fails  to specifically identify the documents sought, then that request is not ‘encompassed’ by OPRA...”
The OPRA Custodian and City employees are only required to search their files to find the identifiable government records listed in an OPRA request. Your request fails  to  seek  specific identifiable  government  records and is therefore overly broad and invalid under OPRA. Thus, your request is denied.
Sincerely,
Irene McNulty
Deputy City Clerk
Office of City Clerk
To monitor the progress or update this request please log into the Jersey City OPRA Center. (https://jerseycity.mycusthelp.com/WEBAPP/_rs/supporthome.aspx)