Introduction to OPRAmachine #

What is OPRAmachine for? #

To help you find out inside information about what the government is doing using New Jersey's public records law, the Open Public Records Act (OPRA).

How does the site work? #

You choose the New Jersey government agency that you would like information from, then write a brief note describing what records you would like to review. We then send your request to the government agency. Any response they make is automatically published on the website for you and anyone else to find and read.

Why would I bother to do this? #

You pay taxes, and then government does things with the money. All sorts of things that affect your life, from healthcare through to national defense. Some it does badly, some it does well. The more we find out about how government works, the better able we are to make suggestions to improve the things that are done badly, and to celebrate the things that are done well.

Why would the public authority bother to reply? #

Under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) law, they have to respond to your request within 7 business days. The response will either contain the information you want, request an extension of time, or give a valid legal reason why it must be kept confidential under one of OPRA's exemptions.

What if I see a request I feel to be inappropriate? #

Requests for private personal information and vexatious requests are not considered valid for OPRA purposes (read more).

If you believe a request is not suitable, you can report it for attention by the site administrators.

Why won't it let me report some requests? #

If a request has already been reported to the site administrators, you can't report it a second time - this is to prevent the administrators being notified multiple times about the same issue before they've had a chance to conduct a review.

Where a request has been previously reported but an administrator has chosen not to hide it from public view, you can use the form in the sidebar of the request page to contact the administrators if you still think it should be hidden.

How can I keep up with news about OPRAmachine?#

We have a blog and a twitter feed. Also be sure to see our Facebook page.

Next, read about making requests -->