The storage of information in electronic databases raises an issue that often comes up under OPRA but has yet to be decided by the appellate courts: must a custodian comply with a request for a report showing certain information contained in an agency database? Put another way, is this type of request–which involves compiling a variety of information from a database– legally invalid because it requires the creation of a new record?

This issue is currently pending before the Appellate Division in Paff v. Galloway Township, A-000125-14T4. New Jersey OPRA Law Reporter previously discussed this case briefly here, focusing on its potential impact on law enforcement agencies. But this appeal affects all agencies, not just the law enforcement community, because the question at the heart of the case concerns the validity of all OPRA requests for compilation of information from any database. The importance of the case is shown by the fact that the League of Municipalities, the New Jersey ACLU and the New Jersey Association of Chiefs of Police have filed amicus briefs with the court.

Galloway has appealed the trial judge’s grant of a request for a log showing the sender, receiver, date, time and subject matter of each email sent by the township’s police chief during a two-week period. The argument that this request is invalid is straightforward–the log must be created by the Township, and case law says that OPRA does not obligate an agency to create a new record. The opposing argument is also straightforward–OPRA requires production of the log because the statute defines a government record as including “information stored or maintained electronically,” and the requested email information is maintained in Galloway’s electronic records.

Neither the Supreme Court nor the Appellate Division has addressed this conflict between OPRA’s language and the rule that OPRA does not require the creation of a record. Resolution of this issue will have a wide impact beyond the specific question in the Paff appeal of access to a log of email information. Many OPRA requests seek reports drawn from electronic databases. This appeal should provide crucial guidance on whether the law requires agencies to produce such reports.