City Clerk’s obligation to the CPRA
Q: Is there any law about City Clerk’s responsibility to Public Records Information requests? Could you point me to the correct resource on the Clerk’s legal responsibilities? The Clerk is both our elected City Clerk as well as a city employee administering the City Clerk’s office.
A: I understand your question to be whether the City Clerk has the obligation to comply with requests for public records in accordance with the California Public Records Act, California Government Code sections 6250 et seq. If my understanding is accurate, the answer is yes, the City Clerk must comply with the Act. The California Public Records Act (California Government Code Section 6250 et seq.) governs access to public information and records from local government, including information and records from cities. On the local level, all government agencies except the court system are governed by the Public Records Act.
California Government Code Section 6252 defines local agencies (which are subject to the Public Records Act) to include the following: “a county; city, whether general law or chartered; city and county; school district; municipal corporation; district; political subdivision; or any board, commission or agency thereof; other local public agency; or entities that are legislative bodies of a local agency pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 54952.”There is no criminal sanction for refusing to make public records available. If you have been denied access to public records, your remedy is to file a lawsuit in which you could seek a court order compelling disclosure of the records. Depending on the reasons why the documents are being withheld, you may have a valid lawsuit. However, there are a number of exemptions under the Public Records Act.