With Susan Seager of UC Irvine School of Law’s press freedom clinic, FAC represents the Investigative Reporting Program (“IRP”) of UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism in a lawsuit challenging unlawful fees charged by San Joaquin County for copies of autopsy reports related to deaths caused by law enforcement officers.
IRP asked San Joaquin County for copies of 34 autopsy reports in such cases. The County did not dispute that the reports are subject to disclosure, but it charged IRP a flat fee of $25 per report, regardless of the length of the report or portions requested or disclosed. The County charges no fee to a decedent’s next of kin for copies of similar reports. IRP declined to pay the fee demanded by the County.
Our lawsuit argues the flat fee is unlawful because it is not authorized by the California Public Records Act (“CPRA”) or any other statute. The CPRA generally limits fees for copies of public records to direct costs of duplication. Penal Code section 832.7(b) does the same for records related to shootings by officers or use of force by officers that resulted in death or great bodily injury. The CPRA allows agencies to charge a “statutory fee” for copies of public records, but no statute authorizes counties to charge a flat fee for these autopsy reports.