Asked & Answered

Q: I have requested documents from a school district. The initial request was denied because the documents contain information concerning “pupil education records.” I responded that the information should be redacted but they still need to provide the redacted documents. The district Public Information Officer (PIO) replied with the same exact response, claiming the document is exempt. What further steps can I take to retrieve these documents? A: As you aptly pointed out to the

Q: I am looking to acquire a copy of Coastal Permit (4-90-9 A-1). Please advise. A: Coastal permits held by a state or local agency would presumptively be subject to disclosure under the Public Records Act, so obtaining a copy of the permit that you seek probably requires making a simple request for it from the agency.  You might first check the agency’s website to see if it has some sort of streamlined procedure for requesting documents such

Q: I made a request for public information four months ago from my local school district and I have not received the requested information. Please advise. A: The Public Records Act contains various provisions related to the time an agency has to respond to a request for public records, as well as the disclosure of those records to the requester.  Gov’t Code § 6253(c) provides that the agency must respond to a request for a copy of

Q: I am a journalist investigating the local County Narcotics task force and their use of confidential informants. I know the task force has their informants sign contracts – I want to file a public records request for full disclosure of said contracts. I know they will likely deny this, but is there any way to fight the denial and get the contract with any/all info that would identify those informants redacted? A: As you seem

Q: Suppose I make a request for records from a public agency, but their records retention policy allows the records to be destroyed before the agency produces them. Does the Public Records Act require a suspension of the destruction of records if a request has been made? A: Unfortunately, the Public Records Act is not a record retention act, and is therefore silent on that front. There are several other statutes and ordinances that govern