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Asked and Answered

CPRA

How May I Obtain A Transcript Of Disciplinary Actions Concerning My Son In Prison?

Under the California Public Records Act (CPRA), public records – which include "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," Cal. Gov't Code § 6252(e) – are presumed to be open to the […]

February 19, 2021
Posts

CFAC protests new legislation curbing access to government mapping data

[…] over real estate data used in digital mapping systems. The legislation, AB 1978, submitted by Assembly member Jose Solorio (D-Orange County), would exempt from the California Public Records Act the basemap data essential for many local applications of digital mapping or "geographic information systems" (GIS). This exclusion would free local governments--Orange County included--to restrict […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
June 2, 2009
Asked and Answered

CPRA FOIA Police Records

How do I appeal the denial of a CPRA request?

While traveling in California, I had property stolen out of my hotel room and I filed a police report. When I returned home, I made a public records request to the PD for a copy of the report. My request was denied. I am wondering who do I write to so I can appeal […]

May 15, 2012
Asked and Answered

Brown Act CPRA

Citizen access to City financial reports

While neither California’s Public Records Act nor its open meetings law, known as the Brown Act, address issues such as the obligation of legislative bodies to abide by their by-laws, you could use the PRA to request the financial report that you seek. Under the PRA, public records—which include "any writing containing information relating to […]

April 6, 2016
Posts

Vote YES on Prop 42 if you value open-government. Vote no if you prefer secrecy.

[…] clear: You should vote for Prop 42. Prop 42 solves a problem that has repeatedly undercut enforcement of California’s open meetings law (the Brown Act) and open records law (the Public Records Act). Because these laws are "mandated" by the Legislature, the state must reimburse local governments for their costs. Although the costs are […]
May 13, 2014
Latest News

Cases Press Release

FAC and ACLU of Northern California Welcome Mendocino County’s Repeal of Public Records Fee Ordinance

[…] 4507, which authorized the county to charge as much as $150/hour for staff time to locate, review, or redact documents people asked for under the California Public Records Act. The law, passed last July, received widespread condemnation from the public, journalists, and open government advocates. One local media organization, the Mendocino Voice, has been […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
May 9, 2023
Latest News

Blog Events

Sunshine Week Event: Inside the Fight for Public Information

Sunshine Week 2021: Join us for a discussion on navigating barriers to public records and fighting for open government Update: Check out the event recap. The coronavirus pandemic has made accessing public information more challenging than ever, with some governments refusing to even respond to requests for public records. Yet news organizations across the […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
March 2, 2021
Asked and Answered

CPRA School Records

School District Stalling Over My Request For Gender Breakdowns On Student Performance

When an agency receives a request for public records, it has ten days (and fourteen extra in statutorily-defined "unusual circumstances") to determine whether the request seeks copies of disclosable records, and to either disclose them or cite an applicable exemption and its reasoning why that exemption applies. Cal. Gov. Code § 6253(c). When an […]

April 21, 2022
Asked and Answered

Brown Act CPRA

Public Records Non-Compliance, Filing Suit, and Non-Response

It is not clear to me whether the lack of response you discuss below is related to a request under the Public Records Act. If it is, then the options available, generally speaking, are the ones you note below. That is, you can try to bring the failure of the agency to comply with […]

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

FOIA

Making a FOIA request to the Dept. of Homeland Security

[…] required to follow promptly thereafter. The FOIA permits an agency to extend the time limits up to 10 days in "unusual circumstances" (i.e., the need to collect records from remote locations, review large numbers of records, and consult with other agencies). 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(B)(i). The agency is supposed to notify the requester whenever […]

July 11, 2011