In its recent opinion in Lagerkvist v. Office of the Governor, the Appellate Division rejected the notion that a records custodian is required to work with the requestor to turn an invalid request into a proper request that will result in providing the information sought by the requestor.

The courts have long held that OPRA does not permit overbroad requests that require the custodian to perform research. The request in Lagerkvist was denied for this reason. On appeal, the requestor argued that if the custodian rejects a request as overbroad, the statute obligates him to work with the requestor to refashion the request into one that properly asks for specific, identifiable records. Under this interpretation of OPRA, the task of a custodian is to be like a reference librarian, and make suggestions that will aid a requestor’s research project.

The Appellate Division firmly rejected this position. The court stated that OPRA contains no such requirement. The statute spells out the custodian’s duties in N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5g, and nothing there indicates that the custodian must assist the requestor with his research. The statute limits the custodian’s duties to finding and releasing the specific records requested. Quoting a 2014 Appellate Division opinion, the court emphasized that there is “no legal basis to expand the custodian’s role beyond what the Legislature specifically described in N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5g.”

The court’s refusal to add a new duty to the custodian’s obligations is crucial, in view of the heavy workload already shouldered by custodians in dealing with the high volume of valid OPRA requests.