Logs of Private Emails Conducting ‘Government-Related’ Business Now Deemed Government Records Subject to OPRA Disclosure, Rules New Jersey Supreme Court

The New Jersey Supreme Court has expanded the definition of what constitutes a “government record” to be disclosed in response to an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request. On June 11, in Rosetti v. Ramapo-Indian Hills Regional High School Board of Education, Case No. A-72-24, the unanimous Court held that logs of government-related emails stored in public officials’ personal email accounts are government records subject to disclosure under OPRA.

The Court affirmed as modified an Appellate Division decision requiring the Ramapo‑Indian Hills Regional High School Board of Education to produce logs of government-related emails from members’ personal accounts. The decision has practical implications for public entities and private parties alike.

The Court’s Message: Public Business Cannot Be Shielded in Private Emails

In the Rosetti case, plaintiff made an OPRA request to the Ramapo-Indian Hills Regional High School Board of Education (Board) seeking email logs of Board members for all email accounts in which they conducted or discussed Board matters. The Board produced a log of emails from the Board members’ official government email accounts, but refused to create logs of Board members’ personal email accounts. The trial court sided with the Board, but the Appellate Division reversed, ordering the Board to produce a log of its members’ personal emails used to conduct public Board business.

The Supreme Court granted certification, and the Attorney General of New Jersey, the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, the ACLU of New Jersey, and others weighed in as amici.

The unanimous Court sided with plaintiff and the Appellate Division, recognizing that “government-related” emails stored in Board members’ private email accounts are government records subject to OPRA disclosure. The decision written by Justice Fabiana Pierre-Louis explained that “OPRA’s broad reach also includes communications on personal devices and records contained in personal accounts, so long as those records involve government business.” In essence, “using a private email account will not shield those government records from production under OPRA.” Notably, the Court narrowed its conclusion such that OPRA can only reach a log of the private account’s “government-related emails,” not purely private emails.

Practical Implications for OPRA Requestors

For those litigating against or facing other disputes with the government, the Rosetti decision provides new leverage to seek logs and content of the private emails of public officials through OPRA requests. All private emails that are “government-related” can be sought in a log. How an email will be defined as “government-related” will depend on the particular circumstances.

Requestors should carefully craft their OPRA requests to reach the emails covered by the Rosetti decision. Requests that are overly broad—such as those seeking logs of “all email accounts” or all private email communications—may be subject to challenge. Private entities and individuals submitting OPRA requests should frame them with reasonable specificity, indicating that only government-related communications are sought and identifying the subject matter, officials involved, and a reasonable time frame for the logs to be produced.

Practical Implications for Public Entities and Officials

The Rosetti Court spoke directly to public officials, noting that “[t]he issues in this case could have been avoided altogether if Board members did not use their private email accounts to conduct Board business and instead used only their government-issued email accounts, as intended.” It included a clear directive: “Government agencies should strongly advise their employees, elected officials, and others engaged in government-related business to refrain from using their personal email accounts when conducting government-related business.” And any government-related private emails should be retained and available for search.

In response to any future OPRA request, public entities should be prepared to conduct reasonable, good faith searches of their employees’ private email accounts for any government-related emails. The Rosetti Court provided helpful instruction for producing logs of personal emails—requiring Board of Education members to “search their inboxes as well as their trash, sent, and any other relevant folders for messages to or from other Board members” and then “submit a certification detailing the searches they conducted.”

For more information about how the Rosetti decision or public records laws may apply to your particular circumstances, please reach out to Lowenstein Sandler’s White Collar Defense group.