FAC

Q: I requested a copy of a contract, between my community and a towing company base in a neighboring city, but never received a response. A: Under California’s Public Records Act, “‘[p]ublic records’ includes any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics,” Gov’t Code section 6252(e) – and must be disclosed upon request unless a specific

Q: I am seeking public records from the Police Department. They routinely deny access to records claiming exemptions. In 2017 police drew guns on a group of black youth at the Target store. After a viral video criticizing the incident was posted and subsequently deleted, the Police released a statement. My request for records from the incident were denied by the police. I would like to challenge their refusal to provide the records claiming an

Q: How does one deal with ‘Privileged’ designation in a Public Records Act request response? A:  Both the attorney-client privilege and the attorney work-product privilege are incorporated into the Public Records Act through Government Code§ 6254(k). In general, California law provides that confidential communications between a lawyer and his or her client are privileged and do not have to be disclosed. Evidence Code §§ 954-955.  However, not everything that passes an attorney’s desk is covered by this