Ready or not, the 2024 amendments to the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 to -13 (OPRA), signed into law on June 5, 2024, by Gov. Phil Murphy, took effect on Sept. 3. These amendments, which are the first major changes to OPRA since the law became effective in 2002, have many aspects of which practitioners should be aware, including those that create traps, set important deadlines, and change how practitioners will be able to use OPRA going forward.

Limitations on the Use of OPRA by a Party to a Legal Proceeding

In a major change, the new OPRA bars parties to a “legal proceeding” from “request[ing] a government record if the record sought is the subject of a court order, including a pending discovery request[.]” The amendments do not define a “legal proceeding,” and the change applies to all requests without regard to whether the public agency is a party to the legal proceeding. Furthermore, requestors must now certify “whether the government record is being sought in connection with a legal proceeding and identify the proceeding for the request to be fulfilled.”