PER CURIAM.
Plaintiff L.R. appeals the Law Division's orders denying her motion to proceed as an indigent and subsequently denying her motion to reinstate her complaint. We reverse and remand to the Law Division.
We discern the following facts and procedural history from the record on appeal. L.R. is the mother of three children, one of whom is classified as severely disabled. She resides in subsidized housing and receives food stamps.
In 2011, she submitted OPRA
On November 9, 2011, L.R. filed a complaint against the Board, seeking relief under OPRA. At the same time, she filed a motion for leave to file as an indigent, which would result in a waiver of the filing fee. In support of the motion, L.R. submitted a certification and a copy of the June 21, 2011 order from this court granting her leave to proceed as an indigent in another case. The certification reflected that she was unemployed and that her only sources of income were child support and SSI benefits for her son. L.R. listed a monthly rental obligation of $300, as well as medical and other debts totaling $23,000.
The motion judge denied the motion to proceed as an indigent on December 5, 2011. He stated his reasons as follows:
The judge subsequently denied a motion for reconsideration.
L.R. then filed a notice of appeal and also moved for leave to appeal. We dismissed the appeal as interlocutory and denied leave to appeal. The case was subsequently dismissed in the Law Division for failure to prosecute, based on L.R.'s failure to pay the filing fee. L.R.'s motion to reinstate the complaint was denied as untimely in May 2013. This appeal followed.
On appeal, L.R. contends that the motion judge erred in denying her application to proceed as an indigent. She also argues that her motion to reinstate the complaint should have been granted.
In
"[A]buse of discretion is demonstrated if the discretionary act was not premised upon consideration of all relevant factors, was based upon consideration of irrelevant or inappropriate factors, or amounts to a clear error in judgment."
The judge did not find that L.R. was not indigent, a finding that would not have been supported by the papers before him. Instead, in denying the motion, the judge referred to the fact that OPRA is a fee-shifting statute and that a successful litigant can be awarded counsel fees and costs. "For that reason," the judge denied the motion.
If an indigent person cannot pay the filing fee to start a fee-shifting action, the prospect of having the fee reimbursed in the future is of no value.
Consequently, we vacate the order dismissing the complaint and remand to the Law Division. Because we reverse on the basis of the denial of indigent status, we need not reach the other issues raised by L.R.
Reversed and remanded.