Question
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.
Answer
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.
Asked & Answered posts should not be relied on as legal advice, and FAC makes no guarantees about their completeness or accuracy. All posts carry a date of publication that readers should take note of in assessing their usefulness, given that laws and interpretations of them may change over time. Posts predating Jan. 1, 2023, that discuss the California Public Records Act may contain statute numbers no longer in use. Please see this page for a table showing how the California Public Records Act has been renumbered.