HOWELL - Democrats accused township officials of withholding police records about a Republican candidate's 2016 drunken driving arrest.

The Howell Democratic Party, which has high hopes of flipping the Republican-controlled Township Council, sought a series of police records related to GOP candidate Pamela J. Richmond.

But party officials say the town has created barriers to prevent access, or delayed access, to the information.

"We're frustrated because they're slow-walking it," said John McCabe, the municipal chair of the Howell Democratic Party. "I can draw no other conclusion than to think this is political."

An intern working for the party submitted an Open Public Records Act, or OPRA, request on Oct. 15 that sought access to police reports and arrest records for Richmond, two of her family members and 911 dispatch calls to two addresses associated with her name within specific time periods.

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An Oct. 24 letter from Township Clerk Penny Wollman asks for a $300 special service charge to offset the cost for the time a police captain to conduct a records search and redact personal information.

However, an Oct. 16 email from another clerk in the office, Donna Belton, said the charge would be between $75 and $150. The email also asked the requester to state the reason for the request, which is not required under OPRA, but can be asked when the town has to engage in a "privacy interest analysis" prior to releasing the records.

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Records custodians have to respond to a request within seven days. On the seventh day, the township requested an additional seven days to produce the records, bringing the deadline to the Friday before Election Day.

Howell is heavily Republican, with only one Democrat, the mayor, heading the five-member council. There are three council seats up for grabs, all belonging to Republicans. Councilman Robert Walsh, a Republican, is the only incumbent seeking a new three-year term. Running on the GOP ticket are Richmond and Thomas Russo. The Democrats seeking the seats are John Bonevich, Kristal Dias and Paul Dorato.

Township attorney Joseph Clark told the Asbury Park Press in an email that he was unaware the Democrats had made the request.

"Rest assured that there is nothing political about the timing of the response," Clark said. "It's purely a function of the potential sensitivity of the records, and the township's desire to balance the need for transparency against an individual's rights."

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Municipal court records obtained by the Press show that Richmond was charged with drunken driving and reckless driving in November 2016, but the DWI charge was ultimately dismissed. Richmond pleaded guilty to reckless driving and paid a $489 fine.

Richmond didn't immediately respond to a phone call from the Press on Wednesday.

The clerk's letter also said the township needed to perform a seven-step balancing test to determine which, if any, records could be released.

Walter Luers, an attorney who specializes in public requests, said a defendant's privacy interest is especially low in a DWI case because the arrests are made in public for potentially putting other members of the public in danger.

Generally, the only private information in a traffic citation would be her phone number, her driver's license, her insurance information and her home address, Luers said.

"It's embarrassing, but it's not private," he said.

However, Luers said two weeks for "this kind of request" is reasonable. He also said the request could have been denied for being too broad.

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Since the Democrats declined to give a reason for the records, Belton's email said the township will interpret the privacy interests as "broadly as possible." But John Paff, a public records watchdog who regularly tests the limits of access laws, said the request should be interpreted as "narrowly as possible," according to the law.

Paff said there are custodians out there who will use "tricks" like special service charges and delays when there are political considerations involved.

"It's reprehensible to disrupt the public's rights and hurdles to access documents," Paff said, adding that it's difficult to prove if a disclosure was intentionally delayed.

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Paff said balancing tests are meant to protect an individual's privacy, but when a case has gone to court and been adjudicated, the need for a balancing test would only be necessary in an extreme situation, like to protect a victim or witness, or in situations where records might show video of someone who is ill or in a compromising position.

McCabe, the Democrat, said he plans to file a government records complaint or lawsuit in Superior Court.

"We had information that Ms. Richmond had an arrest record, and as a candidate for council in Howell, we thought it was relevant to the race. People need to know that," McCabe said.

For the most up-to-date news on Howell, keep checking app.com.

Kala Kachmar: @NewsQuip; 732-643-4061; kkachmar@gannettnj.com