Under OPRA, the custodian must respond to request "as soon as possible," but requesters must receive a response within seven business days after the custodian receives a complete request. That does not mean that a record in storage, or one that is difficult to find, will be available during that time. In that situation, the requester and custodian should try to agree on a specific date by which the document will be available. If the requester believes that the date given by the custodian is an "unreasonable period of time" and will not agree to wait until that date to access the document, the requester can consider this a denial of access and start action against the custodian.
Certain records must be available "immediately" under OPRA. Immediate access ordinarily shall be granted to budgets, bills, vouchers, contracts, including collective negotiations agreements and individual employment contracts, and public employee salary and overtime information.
