N.J. governor to scale back public-records restrictions
By The Associated Press
08.13.02
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TRENTON, N.J. — Gov. James E. McGreevey will revise an order that exempted hundreds of records, including some from the governor's office, from the state's new public-records act, administration officials said yesterday.
McGreevey today will reverse restrictions to the Open Public Records Act that included more than 400 state government department exemptions and will clarify how the law, which has prompted confusion, should work, officials said.
The order revising the measure will include some of the issues raised by the editors of the state's major newspapers and the New Jersey Press Association. Media representatives have met with administration officials for several weeks in hopes of revising the directive.
"There have been substantive discussions with the press association," said James Davy, McGreevey's chief of operations. "We have had a good dialogue working on these issues."
John O'Brien, executive director of the New Jersey Press Association, said the media group is pleased about the revisions expected to be made to the order. The group includes editors from The Star-Ledger of Newark, The Record of Hackensack and Gannett New Jersey.
"We think the announcement by the governor's office will be certainly something we can live with," O'Brien said.
On July 8, the state's new public-records law took effect, revising a 38-year old law considered to be the most restrictive in the nation. It presumes that all government records are public unless otherwise indicated.
A day later, McGreevey announced he had signed the executive order enforcing departmental exemptions, which caused confusion in government offices about what records should remain private.
The order cites safety and security concerns for shielding some of the records. But the majority are exemptions that government departments recommended, and some news media organizations have questioned the need to keep them private. They include charter school applications, building permits and applications for farmland acquisitions.
Legislators allowed for records related to a police investigation to be kept private, but media representatives say agencies are taking that exemption too far. Information once commonly made public — such as the address of a suspect or people injured in accidents — is now private.
Some police departments have refused to let reporters view basic reports and municipal clerks have required public-records forms to be filled out for a town meeting agenda.
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