Dugan v Burlington County Clerk of Court
Lawsuit Filed Against Burlington County Clerk's Office
A judge has granted class-action status to a lawsuit that alleges the Burlington County Clerk's Office overcharged for copies of official documents before the fee was reduced early 2005.
The decision by Superior Court Assignment Judge John A. Sweeney means the county could be forced to compensate anyone who was charged 50 cents for each page copied instead of the current fee of 10 cents.
Eastampton builder Joseph Dugan sued the clerk's offices in Burlington and Camden counties in 2003, claiming the copying fees of 50 cents and $1 respectively were excessive and illegal. He also sought to have the lawsuit approved as a class action.
Sweeney originally dismissed Dugan's lawsuit, but the decision was reversed by an appeals court that said copying fees can be no higher than the cost to the government to provide the service.
After the state Supreme Court said it would not hear further appeal on the matter, the county lowered its fee to 10 cents a page.
The judge revisited Dugan's argument that the lawsuit should be a class action because there are potentially many more people who were charged the higher fees in Burlington and Camden counties. Sweeney agreed, despite arguments from attorneys representing both counties.
The 10-cent fee now charged in Burlington County is probably accurate, factoring in the cost of paper, electricity and maintenance of the county's self-service copying machines.
"It was a complete and total win in every front against two defendants who have refused to settle this case," said the attorney handling the case.
