OPRAmachine

The Problem

Before OPRAmachine, filing public records requests in New Jersey meant navigating 565 different agencies with 565 different processes. Some accepted email, others required fax machines. Response tracking was manual. And if you wanted to see what records had already been released? That information simply didn’t exist in any searchable form.

I built OPRAmachine in 2017 to fix that. As a researcher trying to access municipal records across Ocean County, I experienced the dysfunction firsthand. One township required certified mail. Another had a PDF form that couldn’t be completed digitally. A third wouldn’t acknowledge receiving requests at all.

What I Built

OPRAmachine provides a single interface for submitting OPRA requests to any New Jersey government agency. The platform handles delivery, tracks responses, sends deadline reminders, and publishes everything publicly. When one user requests a document, everyone benefits from the release.

The system runs on Alaveteli, open-source software originally developed for the UK’s WhatDoTheyKnow platform. I customized it for New Jersey’s specific legal requirements and deployed it on infrastructure I maintain.

Impact

Over eight years of operation, OPRAmachine has processed more than 75,000 public records requests and released 250GB of government data. The platform has become standard infrastructure for investigative journalists in New Jersey. NJ Advance Media, The Record, and dozens of smaller outlets use it regularly to document misconduct, track spending, and hold officials accountable.

One example: a reporter investigating police use-of-force policies across Bergen County used OPRAmachine to submit simultaneous requests to all 70 municipal police departments. What would have taken months of individual follow-up became a single coordinated inquiry with public responses.

Recognition

Operating OPRAmachine taught me how government agencies actually respond to transparency requirements, knowledge that proved valuable when the NJ Foundation for Open Government invited me to join their Board of Directors in 2023. NJFOG is the state’s leading government transparency organization, and I bring technical and operational perspective to their policy advocacy.

The platform demonstrates what happens when you solve a real problem instead of building technology for its own sake. Eight years later, it still runs because people still need it.