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Township of Pittsgrove, NJ
Salem County
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[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Pittsgrove as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fees — See Ch. A120.
[Adopted 3-8-2005 by Ord. No. 3-2005]
New Jersey has adopted the Open Public Records Law that 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 that is not the usual format maintained by the Township or other special circumstances would be costly and time consuming. The New Jersey Open Public Records Law permits the Township 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 and/or special formatting.
The fees of N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5 shall apply to routine requests under the Open Public Records Law as it presently exists or as such fees might appear in future modifications or amendments to the statute. Such fees are provided in Chapter A120, Fees.
Nothing in this article shall require the Custodian of Records or any other Township official to examine, analyze, tabulate or interpret documents that are subject to production under the New Jersey Open Public Records Law.
A. 
Charges authorized. The Custodian of Records or keeper of documents qualifying for mandatory production as government records under the New Jersey Open Public Records Law shall be entitled to special service charges and/or special charges as set forth in § 18-5 of this article.
B. 
Requests to be in writing. Any requests for documents shall be made to the Custodian of Records on a form established by the Custodian of Records for such purposes.
C. 
Advance notice of fees, special service charges and special charges; deposit. Any requestor of government records that are eligible for the imposition of a special charge or special service charge under § 18-5 of this article shall receive advance notice of the amount of fees and charges before any work is started. The Custodian of Records shall require prepayment of such charges before causing the work to begin.
A. 
Duplication on other work beyond capability of Township workforce. Whenever the in-house Township workforce or available Township equipment is insufficient to duplicate or produce government records in a timely fashion, the Custodian of Records may cause such duplication or production to be accomplished by outside vendors, such as copy centers or producers of digital images. If the cost of such duplication or production charged by such vendors exceeds the routine charges set forth in N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5, the actual direct cost of same, without any additional surcharge for labor costs, shall be paid.
B. 
Special service charge authorized. Whenever government records cannot be reproduced by regular copying equipment or fulfillment of the request would involve extraordinary time and effort (for example, where a large number of records most be recovered from storage, substantive staff time is required to produce, review, sort and assemble records, or substantive staff time is needed to assist in the review of governmental records), charges may be imposed as follows:
(1) 
The actual cost (materials and supplies, but no staff labor) of duplication or reproduction; plus
(2) 
A special service charge equal to the actual direct cost of labor shall be imposed for extraordinary time predicted to be utilized to respond to the request.
C. 
Digital, recorded or computerized records. If a request for government records involves production or conversion of digital, recorded or computerized records, tape or film which is in a medium not routinely used by the Township (i.e., electronic, tape or film); or is not routinely developed or maintained by the Township, or requires a substantial amount of manipulation or programming of information technology; the requester shall pay fees and special charges as follows:
(1) 
Direct costs (no overhead) to comply with the request; plus
(2) 
Special charges, the cost of the technology and labor actually incurred.
A. 
The Township of Pittsgrove may be compelled by New Jersey Law to produce or duplicate government records, but no compliance with these legal obligations shall be deemed to constitute a license, sublicense, or waiver of copyright laws.
B. 
The Custodian of Records shall give the following notice to any requestor of government records:
NOTICE—COPYRIGHT LAWS
You must comply with United States copyright laws. These laws may restrict your right to use, duplicate or modify the records provided to you by the Township of Pittsgrove. You should consult your own legal counsel on this since severe civil and criminal penalties for violation of copyright laws are provided.
The Custodian of Records may waive the fees or other charges otherwise chargeable if the requestor of government records is a governmental or educational entity or a professional affiliate of the Township.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent with or in conflict with this article are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency.
If any section, paragraph, clause or provision of this article shall be judged invalid, such adjudication shall apply only to the section, paragraph, clause or provision so adjudged and the remainder shall he deemed valid and effective.
This article shall take effect upon due passage and publication as provided by law.