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Asked and Answered

CPRA

How does the CPRA deal with emails between elected officials

Can email sent by a California Special District elected official to other directors or the district office concerning district business be subject to examination using the Public Records Act? Would it make a difference if he used his personal computer to send an email to another elected official?

August 21, 2010
Posts

CA Senate Bill 1421 Would Bring Desperately Needed Transparency to Police Misconduct Files

The First Amendment Coalition strongly supports California Senate Bill 1421, which would bring long-overdue transparency to records relating to police misconduct. The bill would require disclosure of records relating to investigations of serious police misconduct, including officer-involved shootings and instances where police officers have lied under oath. Law enforcement officers are alone among public […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
April 9, 2018
Latest News

In taping a reporter, AG Brown’s spokesman showed bad judgment, but did he break the law?

November 4, 2009
Asked and Answered

CPRA

How to requests public documents from San Francisco Airport

In California, you may request public records through the California Public Records Act ("CPRA"). Under the CPRA, all public records are subject to disclosure unless they fall within one of the exemptions created by the CPRA. "Public records" are generally broadly defined. The definition of public records in the CPRA includes most documents generated […]

May 11, 2018
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Minutes deadline

The minutes of an open meeting subject to the Brown Act, which applies to the meetings of legislative bodies of local agencies, are public records and therefore subject to inspection by the public. Under the Public Records Act, Cal. Govt. Code Section 6252 et seq., "public records are open to inspection at all times […]

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

CPRA

As a retired public employee, can I access my payroll records using the CPRA?

The California Public Records Act, Cal. Govt.. Code sections 6250 et seq., provides that all records of state and local agencies be open to the public for inspection and copying. The Act is however subject to numerous exemptions, many of which are set forth in Govt. Code section 6254. Payroll reports of governmental employees […]

May 16, 2012
Asked and Answered

CPRA

My Request for City Contract with Towing Company Was Never Answered

Under California’s Public Records Act, "‘public 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 provision of the […]

May 16, 2019
Posts

FAC Urges California Highway Patrol to Release Public Records Relating to 2016 California State Capitol Violence

The First Amendment Coalition today submitted a letter to the California Highway Patrol, urging CHP to release public records it has refused to disclose regarding the violent clashes at the California State Capitol on June 26, 2016. The letter also calls CHP to task for the apparent use of a public records request as […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
February 16, 2018
Latest News

FAC News Press Release

FAC Honors the Brown Institute’s ‘Documenting COVID-19’ Project as 2020 Award Winner

[…] the Brown Institute for Media Innovation its 2020 Free Speech & Open Government Award recipient for its "Documenting COVID-19" project, which created a massive clearinghouse of public records and produced accountability journalism in partnership with 30 newsrooms. The project set out to examine the decision-making of state and local officials in response to the […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
February 9, 2021
Latest News

Blog

Illegal immigrants have access rights too. The benefits of the Brown Act and Public Records Act do not depend on citizenship.

By Peter Scheer California's open government laws--the Brown Act and the Public Records Act, primarily--are often said to vindicate the "people's right to know" about their government. And indeed they do. But this formulation begs the question: which "people" exactly? At the country's founding, seemingly universalist references to "the people" actually meant a minority […]
- Public Meetings
- Public Records
June 2, 2009