Search Site
Menu

Police Departments’ Arrest Records are Public Records Subject to Public Disclosure, Supreme Court Says

Even if the judiciary creates the forms and stores them once completed, arrest records are still police records subject to public disclosure under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA), the New Jersey Supreme Court held this month.

On June 17, 2021, the Court held in Baffi Simmons v. Wendy Mercado, __ N.J. ___ (2021), that municipal police departments’ complaint-summonses – records created after certain kinds of arrests – are government records subject to disclosure under OPRA. The case was filed after the African American Data and Research Institute (AARDARI) submitted an OPRA request to the City of Millville Police Department for complaint-summonses for certain classes of drug offenses. The Police Department claimed it was not required to produce the complaint-summonses because the judiciary “makes” the blank forms, and the police do not maintain the completed forms on their own database.

The Court held that the police had to produce the documents because the information sought by the AARDARI is not the blank forms themselves, it is the substantive information filled in by the police. The form is “nothing but an empty shell until law enforcement officers…make that shell into an official government document” by inputting information. Because OPRA favors government transparency and broad disclosure to the public, “it is evident that the [documents] sought in this matter are government records subject to disclosure by [the City of Millville Police Department] under OPRA.”

The Court also said that OPRA does not require the police to maintain the information on their own database in order to be obligated to produce them on request. OPRA requires disclosure of electronic government records that a government official makes, maintains, or keeps on file. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1 (emphasis added). Since the police “make” these records, they qualify as government records, even though the police do not maintain them.

The Court also held that requests for a certain type of document over a certain time period are specific enough that they do not require the police to do research in order to produce them.

The ruling preserves the spirit of disclosure of OPRA, ensuring that police departments cannot obscure information by simply passing it off to the judiciary.

Our Attorneys

In The Media

  • On the Run: Runner/lawyer DeBord out to protect the environment she loves

    Bucks County Herald, January 4, 2024

    When Brittany DeBord runs along the Delaware River canal towpath or on the trails of Tyler State Park, she doesn’t just appreciate the natural beauty of the...

    Read More
  • Gulf Coast Town Center facing foreclosure

    Naples Daily News, September 16, 2015

    Wells Fargo filed a lawsuit Sept. 8 against an affiliate of CBL & Associates, the owners of the decadeold, 1.2 million-square-foot mall in south Fort Myers for a $190.9 million unpaid loan. The center has 94 stores on 204 acres, with such anchors as Super Target, Belk, Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Marshalls and Costco...

    Read More
  • Town liable for private company's leaking underground tanks, court rules

    NJ.com Jul 26, 2017

    CRANFORD -- A couple that owned a businesses in town and became sick from leaking underground tanks owned by an adjacent business can sue the township for damages because the tanks were partially ...

    Read More
  • Dark Waters: How a Class Action Catapulted NJ to Forefront of 'Forever Chemicals' Battle

    NJ Law Journal Jan 09, 2020

    As property owners become increasingly aware of PFAS contamination, and as individuals exposed to PFAS learn of the health risks associated with exposure, liability will likely affect entire supply chains.

    Read More
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
Contact Our Firm

Quick Contact Form