New Jersey has adopted the Open Public Records
Law, which has as its general purpose making government records more
available to the public than they have been in the past. In certain
instances, the production of archived records or records in a format
which is not the usual format maintained by the municipality or other
special circumstances would be costly and time consuming. The New
Jersey Public Records Law permits the municipality to require the
payment of fees, special service charges and/or special charges as
a prerequisite to the production of records requiring extraordinary
time and effort, special equipment or special formatting. It has been
deemed necessary to establish the fees that may be charged for the
copies provided, consistent with the provisions of the New Jersey
Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1, et seq.
The establishments of the position of deputy
custodians of documents are as follows:
F. Registrar of Vital Statistics.
H. Director of Water and Sewer.
Nothing in this chapter shall require the custodian
or deputy custodians of documents or any other municipal official
to examine, analyze, tabulate or interpret documents which are subject
to production under the New Jersey Open Public Records Act.
The Mayor, Clerk or Township Committee (by resolution)
may waive the fees or other charges otherwise chargeable if the requester
of governmental records is a governmental or educational entity.
The term "public records" generally includes
those records determined to be public in accordance with N.J.S.A.
47:1A-1. The term does not include employee personnel files, police
investigation records, public assistance files or other matters in
which there is a right of privacy or confidentiality or which is specifically
exempted by law.