Question
I have requested from the City any or all documents, emails, etc. regarding a proposed development policy. When they did not provide the information, they were given a deadline of today. Little of the information was provided and was told that since the policy is in draft form, it would not be provided until it is completed. In actuality, this is supposedly ready to go to the Planning Commission in two weeks. This all seems like a delay tactic. Have read your answers about reports in draft form. This response does not seem to meet the exemption requirements. Thank you for any clarification.
Answer
If the City mentioned any exemptions to the Public Records Act that they are invoking to withhold documents, you may want
to learn more about the exemption in FAC’s CPRA Primer – Exemptions.
If the City did not mention or cite a specific exemption to the PRA, it may be worthwhile to write a follow-up letter asking for clarification on why certain documents were not produced.
To the extent that you believe any documents that should have been disclosed but were not, Government Code section 6259 allows you to file a lawsuit. Lawsuits to enforce the CPRA are usually initiated by a verified petition (i.e., a request filed under oath) that asks the court to issue a “writ of mandate.” A writ of mandate is a type of order directing the public agency to take specified actions. The lawsuit may be filed in the superior court of the country of the agency that is the holder of the records. Lawsuits against state agencies may be brought in Sacramento County or in any city in which the California attorney general has an office. Code of Civil Procedure section 401(1).
Bryan Cave LLP is general counsel for the First Amendment Coalition and responds to First Amendment Coalition hotline inquiries. In responding to these inquiries, we can give general information regarding open government and speech issues but cannot provide specific legal advice or representation. No attorney-client relationship has been formed by way of this response.
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.