DEAN SMITH VS. HUDSON COUNTY REGISTER, ET AL. JEFF ZEIGER VS. HUDSON COUNTY REGISTER, ET AL. A-4113-09T3, A-4114-09T3, (CONSOLIDATED)
A requestor who is charged an excessive amount to obtain copies of public records under the Open Public Records Act ("OPRA"), N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 to -13, who then prevails in an OPRA action against the public entity that engaged in the overcharging, or whose OPRA action acts as a catalyst to a change in the public entity's practices, is entitled to receive reasonable attorney's fees pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6. The requirement within the fee-shifting provision, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6, that the requestor be "denied access" to the records is not restricted to instances where physical access has been denied, but also encompasses instances where a requestor has been forced to pay excessive copying charges to obtain the records at rates above those prescribed by OPRA in N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(b). Applying these standards, we hold that plaintiff Dean Smith, who was a prevailing party in Smith v. Hudson County Register, 411 N.J. Super. 538 (App. Div. 2010), which produced a change in defendants' practices, is entitled to an award of reasonable trial and appellate counsel fees. 04-25-11
