[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Brick 3-11-2003 by Ord. No. 1089-03. Amendments noted where applicable.]
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.
[Amended 8-10-2010 by Ord. No. 39-10; 10-19-2010 by Ord. No. 44-10]
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 a 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.
F. 
The statutory fee schedule shall apply to routine requests under the Open Public Records Law. The fees of N.J.S.A. 47:1 A-5 are hereby incorporated herein as such fee schedule presently exists or as such fees might appear in future modifications or amendments of the statute.
G. 
At present time, fees under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5 for routine copies of municipal documents are be $0.05 per letter-size page or smaller and $0.07 per legal-size page or larger.
The establishment of the position of deputy custodians of documents are as follows:
A. 
Chief of Police.
B. 
Tax Assessor.
C. 
Tax Collector.
D. 
Construction Official.
E. 
Court Administrator.
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.
A. 
Charges authorized. The Township Clerk or deputy custodian of documents qualifying for mandatory production as "governmental records" under the New Jersey Public Records Act shall be entitled to special service charges and/or special charges as set forth in this section.
B. 
Requests to be in writing. Any requests for documents shall be made to the Township Clerk on a form established by the Township Clerk for such purposes.
C. 
Advance notice of fees, special service charges and special charges; deposit. Any requester of government records which are eligible for the imposition of a special charge or special service charge under this § 338-5 shall receive advance notice of the amount of fees and charges before any work is started. The Township Clerk shall require prepayment of such charges before causing the work to begin.
[Amended 9-4-2007 by Ord. No. 37-07; 10-19-2010 by Ord. No. 44-10]
A. 
The following fees shall be charged for copies of public documents and records:
(1) 
Police reports: The fee shall be in accordance with the rates established by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5, set forth in Subsection A(2) below. For police accident reports not requested in person, an additional fee of $5 shall be charged to cover the administrative costs of the report, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 39:4-131.
(2) 
All other documents: Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5, except as otherwise provided by law or regulation, the fee assessed for the duplication of a government record embodied in the form of printed manner shall be $0.05 per letter size page or smaller and $0.07 per legal size page or larger. If the actual costs of reproduction exceeds $0.05 per letter size page or smaller or $0.07 per legal size page or larger, the Township may charge the actual cost of duplication. Access to electronic records and nonprinted materials shall be provided free of charge, but the Township will charge for the actual costs of any needed supplies, such as computer discs.
(3) 
Copies of videotapes or audiotapes; review of videotapes or audiotapes. The Township shall charge actual cost of duplication.
B. 
Whenever the nature, format, manner of collation or volume of a government record embodied in the form of printed matter to be inspected, examined or copied is such that the record cannot be reproduced by the Township by ordinary document-copying equipment in ordinary business size or involves an extraordinary expenditure of time and effort by the Township to accommodate the request, the Township may charge, in addition to the actual cost of duplicating the record, a special service charge that shall be reasonable and based upon the actual direct cost of providing the copy or copies. The requestor shall have the opportunity to review and object to the charge prior to it being incurred.
C. 
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 article, 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 it being incurred.
A. 
The Township of Brick may be compelled by New Jersey law to produce or duplicate governmental records but no compliance with these legal obligations shall be deemed to constitute a license, sublicense or waiver of copyright laws.
B. 
The Township Clerk shall give the following notice to any requester of governmental records:
NOTICE
COPYRIGHT LAWS
You must comply with U.S. copyright laws. These laws may restrict your right to use, duplicate or modify the records provided to you by the Township of Brick. You should consult your own legal counsel on this since severe civil and criminal penalties for violation of copyright laws are provided
The Mayor, Clerk or Township Council (by resolution) may waive the fees or other charges otherwise chargeable if the requester of governmental records is a governmental or educational entity.