Bring your own copier?
Q: I have a question regarding the CA Public Records Act. We have put in a records request to a county government agency and are planning to visit the agency on Thursday to photocopy some documents. However, the agency is insisting that we not bring our own photocopier (which we normally do on such requests and which has not been an issue before). Our question: is there anything in the CA Public Records Act, or any other law, that guarantees us the right to bring our own photocopier? I might add that this agency has generally been resistant to our request to view these public documents, which makes us think that this is a stonewalling attempt.
A: The PRA does not address the issue you raise, but that given the right of access (vs. copies) to public records, it would make sense that people could make their own copies at the agency in the course of examining records from the agency’s files.