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Showing 1 - 10 of 43 results

  • Handbooks

    California Public Records Act Primer

    […] the renumbering of the California Public Records Act. The California Law Revision Commission has this table showing how previous sections of the Public Records Act were renumbered. This is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to constitute legal advice and does not form an attorney-client relationship. Questions or corrections: contact the First Amendment Coalition […]

    July 8, 2024

  • Asked and Answered

    CPRA School Records

    What can be done if I believe a public school district has improperly withheld records that should be accessible under the CPRA?

    […] school. The requests concern complaints, investigations, and correspondence involving multiple administrators. The school district has responded to my requests with a pattern of delay, denial, and blanket exemptions. The district has claimed that no non-exempt records exist. The district has refused to provide a Vaughn-style index — which is a document describing each withheld […]

    May 27, 2025

  • Asked and Answered

    CPRA

    Can my former employer disclose my personnel records under the CPRA?

    […] My former workplace responded, providing only some records and stating the remaining records are exempt under Government Code Sections 7922.000, 7927.700, and 7927.705. It did not provide any index or log explaining which exemptions applied to particular records. Is this response consistent with the workplace’s obligations under the CPRA? What next steps can I take?

    May 15, 2025

  • Asked and Answered

    CPRA

    Are government employee hiring records accessible under the CPRA?

    […] request personal information on other applicants. The county responded by generally citing the CPRA and only provided the job posting and publicly available materials, without citing specific exemptions or reasons for denial. Was this a permissible response? What recourse do I have if the county does not provide a specific legal reason for withholding […]

    May 16, 2025

  • Asked and Answered

    CPRA School Records

    What portion of personnel files are exempt from CPRA disclosure?

    […] the California Public Records Act? Specifically, I am trying to find out whether our child's public school teacher — who was a probationary employee  resigned;  was terminated for cause, or  was "non-reelected" (no reason required per union contract). Our School District maintains that the vast majority of an teacher's personnel file is non-public, with […]

    April 22, 2017

  • Asked and Answered

    CPRA

    Can I appeal a records request denial from State Medical Board?

    I made a request to the California Medical Board for licensing application information. The Medical Board denied my request and offered no avenues for appeal. By my reading of relevant case law, and admittedly I am not a lawyer, this information is clearly not exempt from the Public Records Act. Are there avenues for […]

    August 22, 2011

  • Asked and Answered

    CPRA

    FOIA request California State Parks internal investigation

    […] the public and must be disclosed unless a specific provision of the Act or other law exempts them from disclosure.  If the agency is claiming a particular  exemption, it must not only cite the particular exemption, but how it applies to the requested records.  It is hard to imagine how the personnel exemption applies […]

    June 1, 2016

  • Asked and Answered

    CPRA Newsgathering

    Should complaints against belligerent councilman be public?

    I am a reporter trying to access public records  for two investigations regarding incidents involving a City Councilman— one at a city-owned clubhouse and the other at a local transit agency. Both of my public records requests have been rejected because officials say it is a personnel matter. In the transit agency’s rejection letter, […]

    August 19, 2011

  • Asked and Answered

    FOIA Police Records

    Accessing Information from ICE

    […] people have been arrested; who has been arrested; where they have been taken, etc. I've heard that ICE has invoked the federal Privacy Act as a reason for withholding even basic information. My question is: What are the rights of journalists, under FOIA or other authority, to demand this information? What advice can we […]

    June 14, 2009