An Overview of the California Public Records Act

An Overview of the California Public Records Act

Sara Kohgadai
Overview

Access to information is one of the great fundamentals in a functioning democracy. As the California Supreme Court succinctly put it:

Openness in government is essential to the functioning of democracy. Implicit in the democratic process is the notion that government should be accountable for its actions. In order to verify accountability, individuals must have access to government files.[1]

Based on that idea, the California Public Records Act (“CPRA”) empowers the public to hold state and local government accountable by granting access to information in its possession.

In fact, the legislative purpose (the reason lawmakers enacted this law) is to give the people insight into what the government is doing; to save against abuse of power.[2] The statute expressly states: “access to information concerning the conduct of the people’s business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person.”[3] Note: the CPRA does not require a requester to be a resident of California or a citizen of the United States; all “persons” have a right to request to inspect or copy public records.[4]

Once a member of the public submits a request for public records, the agency is required to make a “determination of disclosability” within ten days.[5] In other words, within that timeframe, the agency must let the requester know whether it will produce the requested documents or if there is any reason it legally does not have to. Then, the agency must make a reasonable effort to search for and locate non-exempt, responsive records and produce them promptly.

So, what are “public records?” What kinds of documents can you request and expect to receive from a state agency? The statute defines public records as any writing regarding “the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency.”[6] Basically,—and there are limitations to this—information that is not private, confidential, or privileged that has to do with governing the state is subject to disclosure upon request.

Here are some examples of CPRA lawsuits against agencies and the records the Plaintiffs sought, including a case filed in Fresno county by this firm with co-counsel Abenicio Cisneros: 

The need for transparency and accountability in government was so important that the legislature included a “fee-shifting” provision in the law.[7] “Fee-shifting” means that if you win your lawsuit against an agency for records, the defending agency must pay your reasonable attorney’s fees.[8] “Winning” your case in the CPRA context means that your lawsuit got the agency to produce documents it should have handed over without a lawsuit. This provision is meant to encourage agencies to comply with the law and helps ordinary people enforce their rights with the help of an attorney.  

If it sounds like you may have improperly been denied access to public records, reach out to our firm to see what your options are.


Citations:

[1] Int’l Fed. Of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 21, AFL-CIO v. Super. Ct. (2007) 42 Cal.4th 319, 328-39.

[2] Times Mirror Co. v. Superior Court (1991) 53 Cal.3d 1325, 1350.

[3] Gov. Code, § 6250.

[4] Gov. Code § 6252(c); Connell v. Superior Court (1997) 56 Cal.App.4th 601.

[5] Gov. Code §6253(c); see e.g., Comm. Youth Athletic Ctr. v. City of National City, (2013) 220 Cal.App.4th 1385,1417–1418 (“[T]he agency is obligated to make reasonable efforts toward clarification [of the request] and production [of the records].”).

[6] Gov. Code § 6252(d).

[7] Gov. Code, § 6259(d).

[8] Gov.Code, § 6259(d); Garcia v. Governing Board of Bellflower Unified School District (2013) 220 Cal.App.4th 1058, 1065.