Question
I filed a complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). The investigation is now complete, and I have requested a copy of the complete file. The DFEH district administrator responded stating cost of 10 cents per page plus postage needs to be paid before I can receive file copy. I requested to have it sent by email instead to avoid fee, but DFEH insist charging cost per page even if sent by email. I supplied a lot of copies to DFEH during the complaint process pointed out that in order to avoid duplication of copies, I need an index. They responded that they did not have an index.
Is there a way to request a fee waiver to get copy of file? What can I do since I’m dissatisfied with the Investigator that my complaint was not fully investigated and feel I’ve been brushed off to close the file early without doing a full investigation and District Admin backing up Investigator assigned to case?
Answer
As for your first question, California’s Public Records Act provides that state and local agencies must provide copies of public records that are not exempt from disclosure “upon payment of fees covering direct costs of duplication, or a statutory fee if applicable.” Govt. Code § 6253(b). A charge of 10 cents per page is fairly standard. You could always request that the agency waive the duplication fee, but there is no requirement that the agency do so.
Instead, your best bet might be to go to the office of the agency to inspect the records in person rather than requesting copies of the records. Under the PRA, agencies can charge for copies but cannot charge members of the public for simply inspecting the records at the agency’s office. See Govt. Code § 6253(a) (“Public records are open to inspection at all times during the office hours of the state or local agency and every person has a right to inspect any public record, except as hereafter provided.”).
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.