NJ Officials Must Disclose Personal Email Logs as ‘Records’ (1)

New Jersey government officials can’t refuse to turn over email logs and messages kept off of public servers, a state appeals court ruled Monday.

In a win for democratic watchdogs, the Superior Court Appellate Division’s published ruling on an issue of first impression bars blanket refusals to produce the who, when, and what logs of officials’ private email accounts that were used to conduct official business. However, courts must consider whether the technology hurdles for production limit disclosure of logs under the state Open Public Records Act.

“Concluding these email logs contain government records under OPRA prevents government officials from ...