New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 5 - COMMUNITY AFFAIRS › Chapter 105 - COMPLAINT ADJUDICATION AND OPEN PUBLIC RECORDS ACT (OPRA) INFORMATION INQUIRY PROCEDURES › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 5:105-1.3 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall
				  have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Act" or "OPRA" means the New Jersey Open Public Records Act,
				  N.J.S.A.
				  47:1A-1 et seq.
"Administrative Complaint Disposition" means a decision of the
				  Council as to whether to accept or reject the Executive Director's recommendation of
				  dismissal based on jurisdictional, procedural or other defects of the complaint.
"Administrative order" means an order issued by the Council
				  requiring the records custodian or the complainant to perform a specific action in
				  furtherance of the adjudication of a pending denial of access complaint or taking
				  other actions deemed appropriate to adjudicate a complaint in an expedited
				  manner.
"Advisory opinion" means an opinion issued by the Council
				  regarding the accessibility of a particular record as a government record pursuant
				  to
				  N.J.S.A.
				  47:1A-7.b.
"Chairperson" means the presiding officer of the Government
				  Records Council.
"Complaint" or " denial of access complaint" means a denial of
				  access complaint submitted to the Council on a form authorized by the Council in
				  which a requestor claims that a custodian has unlawfully denied the requestor access
				  to a government record.
"Complainant" means a person who made an OPRA request of a public
				  agency and filed a denial of access complaint with the Council.
"Custodian of a Government Record" or "Custodian" means in the
				  case of a municipality, the municipal clerk and in the case of any other public
				  agency, the officer officially designated by formal action of that agency's director
				  or governing body, as the case may be.
"Effective date" means the date upon which the Council renders a
				  decision related to a matter awaiting adjudication, or such other date upon which
				  the Council desires to make a decision effective.
"Ex parte communication" means a communication, either oral or
				  written, from one party to the Government Records Council regarding the merits of a
				  pending complaint without the knowledge of other participating parties. This
				  definition shall not include general inquiries as to the status of a complaint or
				  other general inquiries about OPRA.
"Fair preponderance of the credible evidence" means superior
				  evidentiary weight that, though not sufficient to free the mind wholly from all
				  reasonable doubt, is still sufficient to incline a fair and impartial mind to one
				  side of the issue rather than the other.
"Government record" or "record" means any paper, written or
				  printed book, document, drawing, map, plan, photograph, microfilm, data processed or
				  image processed document, information stored or maintained electronically or by
				  sound-recording or in a similar device, or any copy thereof, that has been made,
				  maintained or kept on file in the course of official business by any officer,
				  commission, agency or authority of the State or of any political subdivision
				  thereof, including subordinate boards thereof, or that has been received in the
				  course of official business by any such officer, commission, agency, or authority of
				  the State or of any political subdivision thereof, including subordinate boards
				  thereof pursuant to
				  N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1.
"Government Records Council" or "Council" means the public agency
				  established by the Act to adjudicate denial of access complaints and provide
				  information regarding the Act and the Council to requestors of government records,
				  custodians and the general public pursuant to
				  N.J.S.A.
				  47:1A-7.a.
"Hearing Officer" means a Council member, or the Executive
				  Director, who receives testimony and documentary evidence regarding a denial of
				  access complaint, inspects records or receives testimony in camera, and assembles a
				  record of those proceedings for later review and adjudication by the Council.
" In camera" or " in camera inspection" means a proceeding in
				  which the Council or hearing officer inspects a government record and receives
				  testimony, if any is necessary for the Council to determine whether the record
				  requested by the complainant should be publicly accessible under the Act over the
				  custodian's objection or claim that the record is exempt from disclosure by virtue
				  of a provision in the Act, or other applicable law.
"Inquiry" means a request from the public, including custodians,
				  submitted to the Council, in writing, or from the toll-free helpline, for
				  information regarding or assistance with the Act, the Council, and issues and
				  matters regarding access to government records.
"Interim order" means an order issued by the Council during the
				  pendency of an adjudication including, but not limited to, an order that requires
				  the custodian or the complainant to perform some act in accordance with OPRA, the
				  compliance of which must be reported back to the Council, or an order that refers a
				  matter to the Office of Administrative Law.
"Intervenor" means a person or party who moves to intervene in an
				  existing denial of access complaint.
"Letter of Representation" means a letter submitted to the
				  Council by a person representing a party in a proceeding before the Council.
"Mediation" means an informal, non-adversarial process led by a
				  mediator and having the objective of helping the parties to a denial of access
				  complaint reach a mutually acceptable, voluntary agreement pursuant to
				  N.J.S.A.
				  47:1A-7.b., 47:1A-7.d. and 47:1A-7.e.
"Mediation Settlement Agreement" means a written agreement
				  between the complainant and the custodian reached during the mediation process
				  memorializing a resolution of some or all of the issues presented during the
				  mediation process.
"Mediator" means a neutral person who is trained in dispute
				  resolution techniques and who was selected by the Council to intervene between
				  parties to a denial of access complaint in an effort to help them resolve their
				  differences pursuant to
				  N.J.S.A.
				  47:1A-7.b.
"New evidence" means evidence that could not have been provided
				  prior to the Council's decision because the evidence did not exist or was unknown to
				  the party at that time.
"Party" means a complainant, custodian, intervenor, and their
				  representatives.
"Penalty" means the civil penalty which may be imposed upon an
				  official, officer, employee, or custodian who knowingly and willfully violates the
				  Act and is found to have unreasonably denied access to the requested government
				  record under the totality of the circumstances pursuant to
				  N.J.S.A.
				  47:1A-11.
"Person" means natural person, partnership, corporation, limited
				  liability company, association, or society.
" Prima facie evidence" means evidence that will establish a fact
				  or sustain a judgment unless contradictory evidence is produced.
"Public agency" or "agency" means any of the principal departments
				  in the executive branch of State government, and any division, board, bureau,
				  office, commission, or other instrumentality within or created by such department;
				  the legislature of the State and any office, board, bureau, or commission within or
				  created by the legislative branch; and any independent State authority, commission,
				  instrumentality, or agency pursuant to
				  N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1. The
				  terms also mean any political subdivision of the State or combination of political
				  subdivisions, and any division, board, bureau, office, commission, or other
				  instrumentality within or created by a political subdivision of the State or
				  combination of political subdivisions, and any independent authority, commission,
				  instrumentality, or agency created by a political subdivision or combination of
				  political subdivisions.
"Representative" means a person who has the authority from the
				  Council or the State of New Jersey to represent a party in a proceeding before the
				  Council.
"Requestor" means a person who delivers to a public agency an OPRA
				  request to copy, examine, or inspect a government record pursuant to the Act.
"Revised interim order" or "revised final decision" means a
				  decision issued by the Council that follows an interim order or final decision
				  correcting a non-substantive or factual error.
"Secretary" means Secretary of the Council.
"Staff" or "Council staff" means the professional and clerical
				  staff that the Council may employ as it deems necessary pursuant to
				  N.J.S.A.
				  47:1A-7.a.
"Statement of Information" means a written response to a
				  complaint, and all attachments thereto, submitted to the Council by a custodian or
				  his or her representative.
" Sua sponte" means the Council's ability to raise issues, legal
				  defenses, or other matters not raised by the parties to a denial of access
				  complaint.
"Vice Chairperson" means the presiding officer of the Council in
				  the absence of the Chairperson.