Handwritten Notes Not Subject to OPRA

Handwritten Notes Not Subject to OPRA

A board secretary’s handwritten notes, used to prepare official board minutes, are not subject to disclosure under the state’s Open Public Records Act, according to an April 5 ruling by the Appellate Division of New Jersey Superior Court.

In O’Shea v. West Milford Board of Education, the court ruled that handwritten notes are not the official record of the board. Instead, the minutes of a board’s meeting constitute the official record.

NJSBA as Amicus NJSBA joined with the West Milford board to argue that handwritten notes used in preparation of official board minutes are not public documents. The New Jersey Association of School Administrators and the New Jersey Association of School Business Officials also participated as amicus.

In the case, a resident requested the board secretary’s handwritten notes arguing that they were a public record. The court rejected this contention, saying that if the requestor’s view were correct, then any notes of a board member, jotted down as a memory aid, would be a public record.

“Taken further, every yellow-sticky note penned by a government official to help him or her remember a work-related task would be a public record. Such absurd results were not contemplated or required by OPRA,” the court stated.