Bill Would Exempt Addresses of Legislators, Probation Officers

As our readers may recall, Governor Murphy recently signed "Daniel's Law" into law, which exempts the home addresses of current and former judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement officers from access under OPRA. A bill pending in the New Jersey Legislature would expand those exemptions to include two additional categories of persons.

Among other things, Senate Bill 3209 exempts from OPRA "that portion of any document which discloses the home address, whether a primary or secondary residence, of any active, formerly active, or retired probation officer or member of the Legislature."

The addresses of current and former judges, prosecutors, law enforcement officers, probation officers and members of the Legislature are likely to appear in land deeds, property tax records, financial disclosure statements, and a variety of other quintessential public records that are available online in a variety of databases.

It is difficult to understand how public agencies would comply with this proposed law. There is no comprehensive list of every current and former probation officer or legislator that has ever worked or held office in this state so that a clerk would know which records to redact. NJ Advance Media has already written about how some agencies are struggling to comply with Daniel's Law because there is similarly no master list of every current or former judge, prosecutor, or law enforcement officer that has ever worked in this state. Collectively, Daniel's Law and S.3209 likely exempt tens of thousands of addresses.

S.3209 will be heard on January 14, 2021 at 10:15 a.m. in the Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee.

For questions about this blog or OPRA, please contact CJ Griffin at cgriffin@pashmanstein.com.