Bill > A1235

Introduced Session

This bill creates a single, searchable website for government records of a political subdivision of the State that are available through a request submitted under the law commonly known as the open public records act. The website will only include records that are of a one-time or periodic nature. The website will be administered by the Department of Community Affairs. The bill does not modify the requirements of the open public records act beyond adding an additional requirement for public agencies that are political subdivisions of the State to upload to the website the specified records. A records custodian may direct a requestor to the website as a proper fulfillment of a request if the record had previously been uploaded to the website, unless the requestor explicitly informs the agency that they do not have access to a computer to access an electronic version of the record. The website will provide potential cost savings to county and local governments and taxpayers, as well as time savings for records custodians as they would have to redact, scan, copy, or upload the document only once, rather than for multiple requests. The website also promotes transparency and provides the public with beneficial access to government documents. The bill includes a six-month testing period in order to ensure the viability and capability of the website. After the six-month testing period, the Department of Community Affairs must create a schedule so that all impacted public agencies are uploading the eligible government records within two years of the effective date of the bill. This bill includes a delayed effective date in order to provide the opportunity to create the website and train the necessary professionals to maintain and upload to the website.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Alex Sauickie (R)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee (on 01/09/2024)

Official Document