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Asked and Answered

Brown Act CPRA

Emails and the Public Record and Brown Act

[…] of a legislative body and any other person." The following information from the Attorney General is helpful. The prohibition against serial meetings must be reconciled with the exemption for individual contacts and communications contained in section 54952.2(c)(1). Individual contacts or communications between a member of a legislative body and any other person are specifically […]

June 14, 2009
Handbooks

California Brown Act Primer

[…] 2022 by Legal Fellow Monica Price, with contributions from Executive Director David Snyder and Legal Director David Loy. It was created in 2006 by James Chadwick, then of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton. Please see this 2023 addendum for an overview of open-meetings law changes that occurred since this guide was published in March 2022.
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Meetings
September 8, 2024
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Changing Regular Meetings to Special Meetings

The local school district has changed its regular school board meetings to special meetings, and has switched the upcoming regular meetings to special meetings for the next 2 months. The board is not providing time for public comments on matters related to policies, programs or services provided by the district at the special meetings. […]

June 14, 2009
Latest News

Cases Press Release

FAC Sues San Diego District Attorney’s Office for Sexual Harassment, Misconduct Records

[…] are of paramount public interest—as we have seen time and again in the "me too" era, sexual misconduct allegations have been allowed to fester in the dark for far too long." The records sought by FAC are of particular interest not just because of their nature and content, but also because they are in […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
July 27, 2018
Asked and Answered

CPRA

School district denying access to public records

[…] the school district could simply redact any exempt information from the records you seek, and provide you with the rest. Under the PRA, "disclosure is favored," and therefore "all exemptions are narrowly construed." County of Santa Clara v. Superior Court, 170 Cal. App. 4th 1301, 1321 (2009). Thus, if there are any valid exemptions that apply […]

May 2, 2016
Asked and Answered

Court Records

Accessing Court Records

For months I was not allowed access to my family law case file. Couldn’t even get a copy of the docket sheet. Finally, I got some of it. There is significant wrong doing in my case on the part of many. I have found evidence of altering of some court documents. I have […]

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

CPRA

PRA request from the California Engineer Board

[…] the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency" is presumed public and must be disclosed unless a specific exemption applies. Gov’t Code § 6252(e). If you make a written request to the Board (a sample letter is available here) it must determine whether the records […]

April 14, 2016
Asked and Answered

CPRA Police Records

Criminal case files and the Public Records Act

[…] from disclosure. Gov't Code § 6254(f). However, basic information about an incident must be disclosed, such as "the time, substance, and location of all complaints or requests for assistance received by the agency and the time and nature of the response thereto, including, to the extent the information regarding crimes alleged or committed or […]

July 19, 2012
Asked and Answered

Court Records CPRA

How Do I Submit CPRA Requests to a CA County Court?

Does a court, judge and/or legal research attorney need to comply with a CPRA request? How can citizens format a CPRA request to view or obtain access to ALL records: electronic files, emails and texts from all devices? Should separate requests be filed for state & county agency? Is there a clean format to avoid delays?

June 15, 2018
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Should I be allowed to access a report in draft form?

I have made a request for a report commissioned by the city to evaluate the police department. My request was denied on the grounds that the report is in draft form. A similar report on the fire department was released as a "draft final report." That report has since been removed from public access […]

March 29, 2012