[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township
of Hillsborough 4-10-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-09;[1] amended in its entirety 6-13-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-07. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
The public records of the Township of Hillsborough shall be
accessible for examination and copying in accordance with N.J.S.A.
47:1A-1 et seq. upon the terms and conditions as hereinafter provided.
Such inspection shall be made only at reasonable times during business
hours and without interference with the conduct of the affairs of
the office or other place where such records are kept or maintained.
The Township of Hillsborough is entitled to charge and collect fees
for the reproduction of any public records, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.
The fee for the reproduction of public records pursuant to N.J.S.A.
47:1A-5 shall be $0.05 per letter-size page or smaller and $0.07 per
legal-size page or larger. The Township shall be permitted to charge
the actual cost of duplicating the record if it can demonstrate that
the actual cost exceeds the foregoing rates.
A.
The Clerk of the Township of Hillsborough and any other department
so authorized under statute or ordinance shall, upon providing photocopies
of documents requested, also charge the requestor for the following:
(1)
The actual cost for any document sent by mail, including cost of
envelope and postage.
(2)
Photographs will be photocopied at the rate established herein. If
requests are made for duplicate photographs, the actual cost of making
the photograph shall be charged.
(3)
Any item that cannot be photocopied by the Township, or not otherwise
provided for by ordinance, shall be subject to a charge based on actual
costs incurred in making the copy.
(4)
Duplication of videotapes/DVDs will be charged for the actual cost
of the videotape/DVD.
B.
Any citizen who is seeking a copy of documents not currently stored
on Township property will be charged for the retrieval and delivery
of such documents as well as the cost of sending the documents back
to the original location.
C.
Should a citizen request information or documents in a medium not
routinely maintained by the Township or requiring a substantial amount
of manipulation or programming of information technology, then the
custodian of records can charge the actual cost of duplication and
a service charge that shall be reasonable and shall be based on the
cost for any extensive use of information technology, or for the labor
cost of personnel providing the service, that is actually incurred
by the Township attributable to the Township for programming, clerical
and supervisory assistance required, or both, pursuant to N.J.S.A.
47:1A-5.
D.
The custodian of records shall also charge a requestor for information
or documents and the cost of postage should the request include mailing
of the documents to the requestor.
Any fee for the copying or reproducing of items not set forth
herein and any changes to the fee schedule set forth herein may be
established, supplemented or amended by resolution of the governing
body of the Township of Hillsborough.
If any section, paragraph, subsection, clause or provision of
this chapter shall be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction
to be invalid, such adjudication shall apply only to the section,
paragraph, subsection, clause or provision so adjudged, and the remainder
of this chapter shall be deemed valid and effective.
Any ordinances, or parts or ordinances, inconsistent with the
foregoing are hereby repealed.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Statistical, factual, quantitative, or qualitative information
that is maintained or created by or on behalf of a Township agency.
A named collection of related records, with the collection
containing data organized or formatted in a specific or prescribed
way, often in tabular form.
Data that is available online, in an open format, with no
legal encumbrances on use or reuse, and is available for all to access
and download in full without fees or a requirement of registration.
"Legal encumbrance" includes federal copyright protections and other
nonstatutory legal limitations on how or under what conditions a dataset
may be used.
Any widely accepted, nonproprietary, platform-independent,
machine-readable data format, which permits automated processing of
such data and facilitates analysis and search capabilities.
Any dataset or portion thereof to which an agency may deny
access pursuant to the Open Public Records Act (N.J.S.A. 47-1A1 et
seq.) and Daniel's Law (N.J.S.A. 47:1B-1 et seq.).
Data which is not protected or sensitive and which has been
prepared for release to the public.
Any data which, if published by the Township online, could
raise privacy, confidentiality or security concerns or have the potential
to jeopardize public health, safety or welfare to an extent that is
greater than the potential public benefit of publishing that data.
A.
Hillsborough Township commits to develop and implement practices
that will allow it to:
(1)
Proactively release all publishable Township data, making it freely
available in open formats, with no restrictions on use or reuse, and
fully accessible to the broadest range of users to use for varying
purposes;
(2)
Publish high-quality, updated data with documentation (metadata)
and permanence to encourage maximum use;
(3)
Provide or support access to free, historical archives of all released
Township data;
(4)
Measure the effectiveness of datasets made available through the
open data program by connecting open data efforts to the Township's
programmatic priorities;
(5)
Minimize limitations on the disclosure of public information while
appropriately safeguarding protected and sensitive information; and
(6)
Support innovative uses of the Township's publishable data by
agencies, the public and other partners.
B.
The development and implementation of these practices shall be overseen
by the Open Data Management Team, reporting to the Administrator or
to the Administrator's designee.
C.
The requirements of this article shall apply to any Township department,
office, administrative unit, or other division of Township government
("agency"), including the records of third-party agency contractors
that create or acquire information, records, or data on behalf of
a Township agency.
D.
Appropriate funding shall be made available to achieve the goals
of this program.
A.
Implementation of the open data program will be overseen by an Open
Data Management Team, made up of designated individuals, who will
work with the Township's departments and agencies to:
(1)
For each Township agency, identify and publish appropriate contact
information for a lead open data coordinator who will be responsible
for managing that agency's participation in the open data program;
(2)
Oversee the creation of a comprehensive inventory of datasets held
by each Township agency which is published to the central open data
location and is regularly updated;
(3)
Develop and implement a process for determining the relative level
of risk and public benefit associated with potentially sensitive,
nonprotected information so as to make a determination about whether
and how to publish it;
(4)
Develop and implement a process for prioritizing the release of datasets
which takes into account new and existing signals of interest from
the public (such as the frequency of public records requests), the
Township's programmatic priorities, existing opportunities for
data use in the public interest, and cost;
(5)
Proactively consult with members of the public, agency staff, journalists,
researchers, and other stakeholders to identify the datasets which
will have the greatest benefit to Township residents if published
in a high-quality manner;
(6)
Establish processes for publishing datasets to the central open data
location, including processes for ensuring that datasets are high-quality,
up-to-date, are in use-appropriate formats, and exclude protected
and sensitive information;
(7)
Ensure that appropriate metadata is provided for each dataset in
order to facilitate its use;
(8)
Develop and oversee a routinely updated, public timeline for new
dataset publication; and
(9)
Ensure that published datasets are available for bulk download without
legal encumbrance.
B.
In order to increase and improve use of the Township's open
data, the Open Data Management Team will actively encourage agency
and public participation through providing regular opportunities for
feedback and collaboration.
A.
The Township will create and maintain a publicly available location
on the Township's website or in another suitable online location
where the Township's published data will be available for download.
B.
Published datasets shall be placed into the public domain. Dedicating
datasets to the public domain means that there are no restrictions
or requirements placed on use of these datasets.
C.
Each published dataset should be associated with contact information
for the appropriate manager of that dataset as well as with a file
layout or data dictionary that provides information about field labels
and values.
A.
Within one year of the effective date of this article, and thereafter
no later than July 1 of each year, the Open Data Management Team shall
publish an annual open data report. The report shall include an assessment
of progress towards achievement of the goals of the Township's
open data program, an assessment of how the Township's open data
work has furthered or will further the Township's programmatic
priorities, and a description and publication timeline for datasets
envisioned to be published by the Township in the following year.
B.
During the review and reporting period, the Open Data Management
Team should also make suggestions for improving the Township's
open data management processes in order to ensure that the Township
continues to move towards the achievement of the policy's goals.
