Trenton Law Director Marc McKithen leaves over OPRA dispute

The Open Public Records Act (OPRA) of New Jersey requires that government records "shall be readily accessible" to the citizens of New Jersey subject to certain exceptions. Trenton Law Director Marc McKithen has decided to quit his job in an apparent problem related to OPRA.

Trenton, NJ city council president George Muschal indicated that Trenton Mayor Mack or members of his administration had pressured Law Director McKithen to delay or deny requests made under the state Open Public Records Act.

The Trenton Times reported on June 15 in a story titled Trenton law director resigns after dispute with Mayor Tony Mack's administration over public records requests :

Since Mack took office July 1, activists and local media, including The Times, have made frequent use of OPRA requests to uncover state and city records that led to critical reporting about the administration.

The story noted of OPRA:

The OPRA law requires government bodies to make a wide range of their records available to the public in a timely fashion.

See previous IPBiz post:

http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-jersey-supreme-court-protects.html

Update, on life in Trenton:

http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2011/08/woman_foils_trenton_carjacker.html