New Jersey court says fees for electronic records are reasonable

A New Jersey court has ruled that municipalities do not have to provide public records to requesters in a computer-readable format if they are not already stored in such a format. The Courier News, a Gannett newspaper in New Jersey, lost its open records case this week against the Borough of Raritan for free access to borough payroll records from 2008 and 2009 in a searchable digital database format, MyCentralJersey.com reported.

The newspaper wanted the records in spreadsheet format in order to compare them with other municipalities, but the borough wanted to charge a $1,100 fee.
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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Mount Arlington, New Jersey Sued for Payroll Records

MOUNT ARLINGTON -- A lawsuit has been filed against the borough of Mount Arlington by a resident seeking to know what each municipal employee was paid between June 1 and Oct. 31, 2009.

The borough maintains that it is willing to comply with the law but that the requests were too vague.

Veronica Silkes, after having three open public records act requests denied, hired an attorney to try to obtain the information.

Public employees’ salaries are a matter of public record, according to state law.
Silkes, a member of an CARMA, an activist group that has repeatedly clashed with the mayor over borough spending, had asked to see the payroll distribution check register, which details every employee who receives a check from the borough.

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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator