Township of Toms River, NJ Chapter 132 Public Records, Inspection of

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Township Council of the Township of Dover (now Toms River) 6-22-2004 by Ord. No. 3884-04. Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Adoption of Administrative Code — See Ch. 1, Art. III.

Fee schedule for documents — See Ch. 287, Art. IV.

§ 132-1 Right to inspect; custodian of a government record; copies; exceptions.

A. In accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. (the "Act"), government records shall be readily accessible for inspection, copying or examination by the citizens of this state, with certain exceptions, for the protection of the public interest, and any limitations in the right of access accorded by the Act as amended and supplemented shall be construed in favor of the public's right of access. A "government record" or "record" shall be as defined within N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1.

B. In accordance with N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1, the "custodian of a government record" or "custodian" shall mean the Municipal Clerk. The Municipal Clerk may delegate responsibility for handling records requests for particular departments within the Township to deputy custodians.

C. The custodian of government record shall permit the record to be inspected, examined and copied by any person during regular business hours unless a government record is exempt from public access by the Act, as amended and supplemented, any other statute, resolution of either or both houses of the Legislature, regulation promulgated under the authority of any statute or executive order of the Governor, executive order of the Governor, Rules of Court, any federal law, federal regulation or federal order. A request for a record must be made on a form adopted by the custodian of the government record.

D. Unless a shorter time period is otherwise provided by statute, regulation or executive order, a custodian of a government record shall grant access to a government record or deny a request for access to a government record as soon as possible, but not later than seven business days after receiving the request, provided that the record is currently available and not in storage or archived.

E. During such regular business hours and under the supervision of a representative of the custodian, every citizen of the state shall also have the right to copy such records by hand and to purchase copies of the records. Copies of records shall be made available upon the payment of the price as established by law. The custodian may require a deposit against costs for reproducing documents sought whenever the custodian anticipates that the information thus requested will cost in excess of $5 to reproduce.

§ 132-2 Fees for copies.

A. The following fees shall be charged for copies of public documents and records:

(1) Duplicate tax bills: $5 for an initial duplicate copy of a tax bill; $25 for each subsequent copy of a tax bill for the same tax year requested by the same person or organization.

(2) (Reserved)[1]

[1] Editor's Note: Former Subsection A(2), Zoning Maps, was repealed 6-12-2007 by Ord. No. 4094-07. See now § 287-12, Fee schedule for documents.

(3) Police photographs:

(a) Five dollars per eight-by-ten-inch black and white photograph.

(b) Ten dollars per eight-by-ten-inch color photograph.

(4) (Reserved)[2]

[2] Editor's Note: Former Subsection A(4), Copies of the Land Use and Development Ordinance and Zoning Ordinance, was repealed 6-12-2007 by Ord. No. 4094-07. See now § 287-12, Fee schedule for documents.

(5) All other governmental records:

[Amended 11-9-2010 by Ord. No. 4298-10]

(a) Printed form:

[1] Per letter-sized page or smaller: $0.05.

[2] Per legal-sized page or larger: $0.07.

(b) Nonprinted or electronic form: the actual costs of any supplies necessary to compile or transmit the records.

(6) Review of videotape: $25 per hour or portion thereof.

(7) Copy of videotape: $75 with the provision that the party seeking to copy the tape must supply his own video equipment and tape for copying the same.

(8) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A(6) and (7) above, a defendant shall have the right to review and copy a videotape at no charge.

(9) Certified copy of disposition of Municipal Court case: $5.

(10) (Reserved)[3]

[3] Editor's Note: Former Subsection A(10), Road maps, was repealed 6-12-2007 by Ord. No. 4094-07. See now § 287-12, Fee schedule for documents.

(11) (Reserved)[4]

[4] Editor's Note: Former Subsection A(11), Tax Maps, was repealed 6-12-2007 by Ord. No. 4094-07. See now § 287-12, Fee schedule for documents.

(12) Police reports: $0.05 per letter-sized page or smaller; $0.07 per legal-sized page or larger. If the request for the police report is not made in person, an additional administrative fee of $5 per report shall be assessed, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 39:4-131.

[Amended 11-9-2010 by Ord. No. 4298-10]

(13) PC Codification Disc: $300 per disc.

(14) Township Code Book: $300 per book

(15) Update to Code Book, diskette or pages: $50 per update material requested.

(16) (Reserved)[5]

[5] Editor's Note: Former Subsection A(16), Dover Township Master Plan, was repealed 6-12-2007 by Ord. No. 4094-07. See now § 287-12, Fee schedule for documents.

(17) Duplicate tax sale certificate: $100.

(18) Copies of audio cassette, computer diskette or computer compact disk: $20.

(19) Issuance of bid documents/specifications: $50

(20) Certificates for redemption: $25.

(21) (Reserved)[6]

[6] Editor's Note: Former Subsection A(21), Bid specifications, was repealed 6-12-2007 by Ord. No. 4094-07. See now § 287-12, Fee schedule for documents.

(22) Booklet of Rules and Regulations for the Township Water and Sewer Utility Department: $55.

B. If the custodian of any such records shall find that there is no risk or damage of mutilation of such records and that it would not be incompatible with the economic and efficient operation of the office and the transaction of public business therein, he may permit any citizen who is seeking to copy more than 100 pages of records to use his own photographic process, approved by the custodian, upon the payment of a reasonable fee, considering the equipment and the time involved, to be fixed by the custodian of not less than $10 nor more than $50 per day.

C. Wherever the nature, format, manner of collation or volume of a government record embodied in the form of printed matter sought to be inspected, examined or copied pursuant to the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., is such that the record cannot be reproduced by ordinary document copying equipment in ordinary business size or involves an extraordinary expenditure of time and effort to accommodate the request, a special service charge may be charged by the custodian in addition to the actual cost of duplicating the record:

(1) Labor charge for researching, reformatting, monitoring the inspection of, collating records, or for providing similar services: $15 per hour.

(2) Supervisory services in connection with labor charges authorized in this section: $50 per hour.

(3) CD-ROMS: cost.

D. In the event an extraordinary expenditure of time and effort is needed by the Township to accommodate a request to inspect, in addition to any fees for actual duplication and copying incurred by the requestor under this chapter, the Township shall assess a special service charge based upon the cost incurred for such extensive use of information technology resources and/or the labor cost of the personnel providing the service that is actually incurred or attributable to the Township for the clerical and supervisory assistance required, or both. The manner by which such special inspection service fee is calculated shall be kept on file with the Township. The requestor shall have the opportunity to review and object to the charge prior to its being incurred.