## Facts

- The Libertarian Party of Central New Jersey and John T. Paff requested copies of Edison Township Council meeting minutes under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA), N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 to -13.
- They requested that the minutes be provided on a computer diskette rather than as paper copies.
- The Township’s records custodian relied on a municipal ordinance setting a $55 fee per diskette containing the minutes.
- The minutes were created and stored electronically; the paper minutes were printouts of the electronic files.
- The actual cost of a blank diskette was far less than $55, and copying the files required minimal labor.
- The Township argued the fee was permitted under OPRA and prior case law, and that the dispute was moot because the minutes were available for free on the Township’s website.
- Plaintiffs contended the fee was excessive and violated OPRA’s “actual cost of duplication” limitation.

## Issues

1. Whether the appeal was moot because the minutes were available online for free and the challenged fee had not been imposed in a completed transaction.
2. Whether OPRA, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(b), permits a municipality to charge $55 for providing electronic minutes on a diskette when that amount exceeds actual duplication costs.
3. Whether plaintiffs were entitled to relief under the common-law right of access to public records (if OPRA did not resolve the dispute).

## Decision

- The Appellate Division held the appeal was not moot because the ordinance-based fee presented a live, recurring controversy affecting public access.
- The court reversed the trial court and held the $55 diskette fee was unreasonable and not authorized by OPRA’s explicit “actual cost of duplication” requirement.
- The court declined to decide the common-law access claim because OPRA supplied a sufficient basis for relief.

## Legal Principles

- Under OPRA, copy charges for government records generally may not exceed the “actual cost of duplication,” subject only to limited statutory exceptions (including special service charges for extraordinary requests).
- When a record already exists in electronic form, an electronic copy fee must be tied to the true cost of the storage medium and duplication, not a flat amount unrelated to cost.
- A public entity may not set copy fees at levels that function as barriers to access or that deter requesters from obtaining records in an otherwise available format.
- Availability of records online at no cost does not moot a challenge to an allegedly unlawful fee schedule that remains in effect and may be imposed on future requesters.

## Conclusion

The Appellate Division invalidated Edison Township’s $55 fee for providing council minutes on a diskette, holding OPRA limits charges to actual duplication costs and does not permit fee structures that deter access, and it also found the dispute not moot despite free online availability.


Libertarian Party of Cent. N.J. v. Murphy, 894 A.2d 72 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2006)