How Does New Jersey Store Public Records? It's a Secret.

Christie already knows how to act like a president

Is a government's record of how it keeps public records a public record?

Not in New Jersey, state officials claim. Especially if that record might prove embarrassing to the administration of Gov. Chris Christie.

The state's Department of the Treasury denied a New Jersey Watchdog reporter's request for details on how its payroll and pension databases are kept.

The indexes, known as record layouts, would show whether the agency collects data that would enable it to easily track state employees who collect both salaries and pensions — a widespread practice in New Jersey known as "double-dipping."