Question
I’m a reporter doing a story about an elderly woman who owns a house that is in disrepair. Code enforcement has been after her to clean it up. I called code enforcement to ask for a copy of the complaint and was told to submit a public records request, which I did. They rejected the request because it’s an open case. Is that justified? The woman gave me a copy of the complaint, which I’m quoting in my story along with the name of the code enforcement officer. Am I in the right?
Answer
The record you seek might fall under the investigative records exemption to the PRA, which exempts from disclosure
“[r]ecords of complaints to, or investigations conducted by, or records of intelligence information or security procedures…or security files compiled by any other state or local police agency, or any investigatory or security files compiled by any other state
or local agency for correctional, law enforcement, or licensing purposes.” Gov. Code, § 6254(f).
Though I can’t advise you as to your particular situation, I would observe that, as a general matter, dissemination of truthful information that was lawfully obtained is typically not actionable.
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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.