Handbooks
California Public Records Act Primer
Accessing public records in California
July 8, 2024
Search Results
Showing 1 - 10 of 16 results
-
-
Asked and Answered
Can An Agency Charge Fees for Inspecting Public Records?
[…] agencies are supposed to take certain steps "to assist the member of the public make a focused and effective request that reasonably describes an identifiable record or records" including "provide suggestions for overcoming any practical basis for denying access to the records or information sought." Government Code section 6253.9: (a) Unless otherwise prohibited by […]February 26, 2018
-
Asked and Answered
Agency won’t provide records in electronic format
In response to our public records request for electronic data, public agencies have refused to release data in Excel format. They have instead given us pdfs or hard copies. Their reasons are vague, ranging from concerns we will manipulate the data to saying it's not their policy to release data in that format. I […]August 18, 2010
-
Latest News
Major newspapers back CFAC/MAPlight lawsuit to expand public access to Legislative actions
[…] lawsuit's request is simple and straightforward. It demands that the legislative counsel follow the law by providing the public with access to databases it possesses on legislative records, including voting records. Those records are available today, but in a limited and cumbersome way. "It is ridiculous," said Dan Newman, executive director of MAPLight, which […]June 2, 2009
-
Latest News
Court Rules Santa Clara County Must Disclose Parcel Map Database to California First Amendment Coalition
In landmark open records case, court rules Santa Clara County must disclose parcel map database to California First Amendment Coalition (CFAC) Santa Clara County must make public--at minimal cost and without restrictions on use--its digital "basemap" showing parcel boundaries, the assessor’s parcel number for each parcel, parcel address, and other similar data for all […]June 2, 2009
-
Posts
CFAC protests new legislation curbing access to government mapping data
[…] over real estate data used in digital mapping systems. The legislation, AB 1978, submitted by Assembly member Jose Solorio (D-Orange County), would exempt from the California Public Records Act the basemap data essential for many local applications of digital mapping or "geographic information systems" (GIS). This exclusion would free local governments--Orange County included--to restrict […]June 2, 2009
-
Latest News
Gmail Nation: The Privatization of Public Records and Public Access
By DAVID SNYDER—The California Supreme Court ruled last month that records stored on government officials’ personal email accounts are subject to the California Public Records Act. This answer seems obvious: government officials should not be able to conceal otherwise public records by simply using Gmail. And yet the law has been surprisingly slow to […]April 25, 2017
-
Latest News
Big victory in CA Supreme Court case on public access to government data
[…] Orange County cannot restrict access to its electronic mapping data--a so-called "basemap." The Court decided unanimously that the county basemap is a public record under the Public Records Act, which means that it must be made available without use restrictions and for the cost of duplication--a few dollars at most. At the start of […]July 10, 2013
-
Latest News
One judge’s brilliant (and hilarious) rejoinder to lawyers trying to cut off public access to court documents
[…] of humor, but because he is a judge who takes seriously the settled legal rules, grounded in the first amendment, that strongly discourage the sealing of court records. Over-sealing of records, particularly in commercial litigation, is epidemic in state and federal courts across the country. The reason is that secrecy is very often in […]August 25, 2015
-
Asked and Answered
CA Medical Board non-responsive to PRA request
[…] California. I have been trying to get a series of document from the Medical Board of California (and their parent the Department of Consumer Affairs) through public records requests. I think I've only received one document, and it wasn't the document I requested, and the document they sent had whole sections missing and a […]September 11, 2016