Accessing complaints to public agencies
Q: Are complaints (acted upon or not) to an agency such as environmental health department or community development subject to disclosure. Our county only enforces certain provisions of the codes when there is a complaint by the public; however, they refuse to disclose any information regarding the complaints.
A: As you may know, under California’s Public Records Act, the public has a right to inspect and obtain copies of documents collected or maintained by state or local agencies unless a particular exemption of the PRA or other law authorizes the agency to withhold the record. The PRA requires agencies to provide the documents requested or notify the requester that the request has been denied within 10 days. Gov’t Code § 6253.. If the written request is denied, the agency is obligated to back its denial by citing an exemption in the PRA or other state or federal law allowing it to withhold the records you seek. Gov’t code § 6255.
It might be useful to ask the agencies you reference below to identify the authority that allows them to withhold records related to the complaints. To the extent the agencies claim that they are entitled to withhold the names and other information about the individuals who made the complaints, they may be on solid ground. In a case called City of San Jose v. Superior Court, 74 Cal. App. 4th 1008 (1999), the court decided that the city was not obligated to disclose the names, addresses, and phone numbers of people who made airport noise complaints to the city. It does not follow, however, that all records related to complaints are exempt from disclosure under the PRA. If, for example, the agencies claimed that they are entitled to withhold complaint-related records because they contain the names of complainants, the proper solution would be for the agencies to redact the names and other identifying information from the records and then release them. There may be other legitimate justifications for withholding complaint-related documents, but the agencies must at least say what that justification is so that you can decide whether or not it is legitimate. For more information about the PRA, you might find FAC’s CPRA Primer interesting