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Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Destruction of Public Records

[…] also a volunteer at a school district. Here is my immediate dilemma in a nutshell: Last night, the School Board acted on an agenda item to cease recording future closed sessions of their governing board. When the question was raised as to what would become of the existing audio tapes of closed sessions, the […]

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

Brown Act CPRA

Can the governing board of a public agency delete recordings of public meetings?

A California public agency makes recordings of public meetings accessible to the public by posting them on its website. However, the recordings appear to be removed from the website after 12 months. I believe these recordings, even when removed from the agency’s website, should be accessible via a CPRA request. Do removed records have […]

April 1, 2025
Handbooks

California Brown Act Primer

[…] 54954(c). Gov. Code § 54954(a). See generally Gov. Code §§ 54956, 54956.5. Gov. Code §§ 54953(a), 54953.2. Gov. Code § 54953.3. Gov. Code § 54953.5. The public may use these recordings to engage in political speech without violating copyright law. See City of Inglewood v. Teixeira, 2015 WL 5025839 (C.D. Cal. August 20, 2015). Gov. Code § 54953.6. […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Meetings
September 8, 2024
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Does Brown Act allow public meeting recordings to be destroyed?

[…] a meeting was a result of a Brown Act violation that occurred prior to the board meeting. Also we are trying to get a copy of the recording that was done during the meeting. I would also like to know what are my rights to recordings that were taken during a public hearing and […]

March 25, 2013
Asked and Answered

Brown Act CPRA

City Council editing public meeting videos

[…] proper complaint. I then asked the chief of police three times for a complaint. He had an officer escort me into an interrogation room. They took my contact information. No recording as required or the triplicate form. I go online and to the Police Commission website and to my amazement the audio of the entire meeting is […]

July 30, 2015
Asked and Answered

Brown Act CPRA

Can they deny my request for a video of a meeting that was streamed live?

[…] to access "Pink Slips," which are regularly disclosed to other members of the public. California’s open meeting law, the Brown Act, specifically provides: Any audio or video recording of an open and public meeting made for whatever purpose by or at the direction of the local agency shall be subject to inspection pursuant to […]

June 12, 2015
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Agency terminates audio recording of meetings without notice

[…] record it meetings and make them available to the public. I obtain one for a missed meeting. Then skipped a meeting, relying on the availability of the recording, only to be told afterwards, that the staff person did not record the meeting on direction of one of the members. I would like to see […]

September 4, 2016
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Can a School Board Restrict Recording of a Meeting to a Designated Area?

[…] or video recorder or a still or motion picture camera in the absence of a reasonable finding by the legislative body of the local agency that the recording cannot continue without noise, illumination, or obstruction of view that constitutes, or would constitute, persistent disruption of the proceedings." Therefore, unless you are creating a "persistent […]

February 17, 2021
Asked and Answered

Brown Act CPRA

Copies of Tapes for Public Record Requests

[…] a way to make the duplication (or convince the agency to invest in some basic tape duplication equipment), refusing to accept your new blank tape and instead recording over the old one is unreasonable and possibly a violation of the Brown Act. This might satisfy the agency's concern about turning over the original tape […]

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

Brown Act School Records

Right to Videotape School Board Meetings

You are correct. The school district does not have the right to prohibit recording of its meetings absent a finding that such recording disrupts its proceedings. Government Code section 54953.5 provides that "any person attending an open and public meeting... shall have the right to record the proceedings with an audio or video tape […]

June 14, 2009