On April 20, 2023 the New Jersey Appellate Division decided an Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) matter in the case of Owoh v. City of Camden, 2023 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 597 (App. Div. Apr. 20, 2023). The Appellate Division determined the City of Camden (“City”) did not deny access to requested police records and the City was not obligated to retrieve the records from the County of Camden (“County”) a separate public entity. The firm successfully represented the City on appeal.
Plaintiff-Respondents, Rotimi Owoh, o/b/o African American Data and Research Institute, and Baffi Simmons (“Owoh”) filed an OPRA request with the City back in November of 2018 for various police department records. The City directed the requestor to the proper custodian of the requested records, the County, as the City had not had its own police force since 2013 when the County assumed all police services for the City. The requestor filed a denial of access complaint with the Government Records Council (“GRC”) and the GRC determined the City denied access to the requested records, was obligated to retrieve the records from the County because of the Police Services Agreement between the City and the County and awarded attorneys’ fees to Owoh.
The City appealed the GRC’s determination to the Appellate Division on the basis Owoh did not serve the proper custodian with the request, the City was not the custodian of the records and the City could not be under an obligation to retrieve records from a separate public entity. The Appellate Division found in the City’s favor in all regards and reversed the GRC’s decision finding the City denied Owoh access to the requested records. The Appellate Division determined the City did not unlawfully deny access to records which were made and maintained by the County and that once the City received the request properly meant for the County, the City’s Custodian complied with the statute by directing the requestor to the proper County Custodian. Importantly, the Appellate Division vacated the award of attorneys’ fees to Owoh.
