Welcome to our Public Records page. The California Public Records Act (CPRA) is the key law for accessing public records from both local governments and state agencies in California, excluding the state Legislature and the courts, which are subject to separate access rules. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is the record-access law for all executive branch and independent agencies of the federal government. Additionally, FAC has published a Police Transparency Handbook (Updated in 2023) and a Teacher Guide on Court Access (2021).

As of January 1, 2023, the CPRA has been renumbered according to the CPRA Recodification Act of 2021, which is not intended to change the substantive law relating to access to public records. 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 sections of the CPRA have been renumbered. This version of our CPRA primer reflects these changes.