Q: I know that cities cannot charge for staff time when it comes to making photocopies in public records requests. Does this extend to DVDs as well? It appears we are being charged staff time, so DVDs now cost $18 each. Previously I was able to get them free by bringing in a blank DVD disc, which is of minimal cost to me. I can deal with $5, but $18 per meeting DVD is much
Q: I have made numerous attempts to view board meeting minutes, a contract with a specific vendor, payment documents to that vendor, and the names of the other bidders who were not selected for the position at the School District offices. Each time they sent me away saying that they were too busy to get the documents for me, and I would have to send them a written request, which I did. Even so, they
RESOURCES ACCESS TO RECORDS Accessing Public Records IN CALIFORNIA California Public Records Act Primer Note: To access the updated version of FAC’s CPRA Primer, please click here or see the “Download CPRA Primer” button below. Please note the rest of this page is under construction following the Jan. 1 2023 renumbering of the California Public Records Act. The CPRA is now located at Government Code sections 7920.000-7931.000. The California Law Revision Commission has published a table showing how previous
My non-profit organization is being charged a fee to view parole hearing transcripts–not copy, simply view. We also have been told we will be charged to view the Parole Board’s response to a public hearing. We would like an opinion on the legality of this policy A: Under the Public Records Act, “[p]ublic records are open to inspection at all times during the office hours of the state or local agency and every person has
Q: The university where I work denied a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request that involved analysis of information that provided justification for a university policy. After the denial I refined my letter to request specific documents. However, they haven’t responded at to my second request, or to a follow up after ten working days had elapsed. A: Just to clarify, FOIA, or the Freedom of Information Act, refers to the federal law pertaining to disclosure