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Asked & Answered

A&A: Does the CPRA allow access to mug shots?

FAC December 23, 2012

Q: Reporters in our news organization deal with several police departments who routinely deny requests for suspect mug shots. Most recently, a mug shot of a driver in a fatal hit and run case was requested. As they always do, the police department denied our request for the mug shot and offered this standard reasoning for the exemption: A: ”Based on your request for ‘the mug shot of the suspect arrested this morning for the

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A&A: Are city council subcommittees Brown Act-exempt?

FAC September 21, 2012

Q: I am trying to get some skeleton data on a new crop of Brown Act-exempt City Council subcommittees. I requested the subcommittees’ mission statements, which I assumed were set out prior to commencement. Some have had four meetings thus far, and one as many as seven meetings. I have not received a response regarding the composition and purpose of the subcommittees with purported need to await an absent city manager’s writing up of, or coming

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A&A: Who can request documents under the CPRA?

FAC September 19, 2012

Q: Does the California Public Records Act require residency in California to access documents or are they available to visitors from out of state?  Does the CPRA provide a request process?  If so, is it mandatory? A: Your first question asks whether governmental agencies in California need comply with the Public Records act when the request comes form a non-citizen of the state. The answer is “yes.” An agency’s obligation to follow the law does not

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A&A:City says building plans can be viewed but not copied

FAC September 19, 2012

Q: The city attorney is citing the Health and Safety Code Section 19851 to support the city’s denial of copying building plans submitted to the city and on the planning commission agenda and council agenda but not yet approved. He says that until building plans are approved, they are the architect’s property and can be viewed, but cannot be copied. Is this the common interpretation of Health and Safety Code Section 19851 We had wanted

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A&A: Can a public agency demand research fees on a public records request?

FAC August 22, 2012

Q: I asked a registrar of voters for the amount billed to a district for election costs between 2006-2008. They asked for $800 in research fees. I sent them a response citing the North County Parents case. They responded back saying that current fees are set by the County of Santa Clara’s Board of Supervisors. They cited Government Code Section 54985 as permitting them to charge this fee. Does this in fact permit them to

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