Freeholders Vote to Settle OPRA Ruling

Two weeks after taking the matter into closed session, and just days before a judge’s deadline, the Gloucester County freeholders quietly voted to go along with instead of launching an appeal.

In an unopposed vote that saw Freeholder Larry Wallace abstain from voting because of a prior attorney-client relationship with Mark Cimino, who represented plaintiff David Burnett, and without any comment in the public session, the board opted to pay $91,443.85 in attorney’s fees and costs.

Superior Court Judge Timothy Farrell ruled in May that the county OPRA in not fully complying with a request by Burnett dating back to March 2008.

Burnett, of Clayton, is a former director of the county Republican Executive Committee.

“Mr. Burnett would never have received the information located but for this litigation," Farrell wrote in his ruling, noting that the county’s position “flies in the face of a plain reading of OPRA.”

Under the ruling, the county had to release all the records related to Bennett’s OPRA request–and certify that those records have been released–and pay attorney’s fees and costs.

After the judge's decision was handed down, Cimino called it a victory all around that reaffirms the importance of OPRA.

“This is not only a win for my client, it’s a win for the people of Gloucester County, and it’s a win for the people of the state of New Jersey,” he said previously.

The ruling came after an incident last year, where the county freeholder board was forced to have a court-appointed monitor because of Open Public Meetings Act violations.