4. Nongovernmental bodies.

OPRA applies to records of any officer, commission, agency or authority of the State or of any political subdivision thereof, including subordinate boards thereof. (See N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1). Consequently, records of non-governmental bodies are generally not subject to the law.  However, there may be circumstances under which a governmental entity is not excused from its OPRA obligations simply because the requested records are not in its possession.  See Burnett v. County of Gloucester, 415 N.J. Super 506 (2010) (finding that “the settlement agreements at issue here [and in the possession of the County's insurance broker, one of the County's insurers, or outside counsel, but not in the possession of the County] were ‘made’ by or on behalf of the Board in the course of its official business. Were we to conclude otherwise, a governmental agency seeking to protect its records from scrutiny could simply delegate their creation to third parties or relinquish possession to such parties, thereby thwarting the policy of transparency that underlies OPRA. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1.”)