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Asked and Answered

CPRA

Can the School District Refuse to Disclose Legal Fees Because of Attorney-Client Privilege?

Attorney-client privilege is an exemption to the California Public Records Act (the "CPRA"), and it is often asserted when a request is made for legal bills paid by a governmental agency to a private law firm. Most agencies that receive requests under the CPRA for records of amounts paid to law firms take the […]

August 7, 2020
Asked and Answered

CPRA Police Records

Police Firing Records

I am looking into the reason for the firing of two officers from our local police department. The city confirmed that two officers had been fired during their probationary period but said it is against their policy to release the officers' names. Can they legally withhold this information? They also declined to discuss the […]

June 14, 2009
Latest News

Blog

Behind the Headlines: How EdSource Put Sunshine on Policing in California Schools

[…] on this. With limited exceptions, police in California have very wide discretion to provide nothing under the California Public Records Act, largely because of the investigatory records exemption,* which is very broad and almost never expires. Additionally, schools are subject to educational privacy rules, so what happens in them is often secret under the […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
October 14, 2024
Asked and Answered

Brown Act CPRA

Closed Sessions and Permissible Topics

[…] whether there were public records generated for, or as a result of, the closed sessions. This would give me the opportunity to ask them to justify any exemption and allow me to request a waiver of the exemption. The city now claims that even if there were closed sessions, the documents from such are […]

June 14, 2009
Latest News

Cases Press Release

FAC, Media Coalition Fight New Effort to Weaken CA Police Transparency Law

[…] purpose of the law, but would have a serious and detrimental effect on transparency broadly." Joining FAC in the effort are the Los Angeles Times, the Center for Investigative Reporting, the California News Publishers Association, the Bay Area News Group, and the Southern California News Group. A hearing is set on this issue for […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
January 19, 2019
Asked and Answered

CPRA

City says it can’t fulfill CPRA request for a month

I filed a CPRA request with the city for information on a story that I'm reporting on my blog. I noticed when reviewing commercial warrants that payments were made (nearly $400,000) to a private management company. The town has been giving the public regular financial reports concerning a private country club they purchased, but […]

May 10, 2012
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Access to sheriff’s e-mail and phone records

Our new sheriff is using his personal cell phone and personal e-mail for conducting county business. He rarely uses his county-issued phone or his official county e-mail address to respond to citizens, instead public inquiries will be answered via his private e-mail. I believe there is some other activity going on as well, including […]

March 22, 2012
Latest News

Advocacy Blog

Pardon Power and Your Right to Know

[…] grants. What we learned from that high-profile pardon was that the process surrounding these decisions is highly secretive. That’s because the court records generated when the governor recommends clemency for those twice convicted of felonies — a specific category of people whose applications are subject to oversight by the California Supreme Court — have been routinely […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
September 18, 2021
Latest News

Blog Cases

The ongoing push for police transparency

[…] criminal charges against several law enforcement officers. In refusing to disclose any records except complaints filed in court, the District Attorney improperly relied on the "investigatory files" exemption from disclosure. Although that exemption may apply to other records, SB 1421 and SB 16 specifically reject it for the records covered by those laws. We […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
May 18, 2022
Asked and Answered

Brown Act CPRA School Records

Parents not invited to meeting that resulted in removing their autistic student from public school

[…] parents and Board member. At the parents' email requests, the Board Member arranged a meeting with himself, the Superintendent, and a large group of parents in a forum at the school district’s office to discuss my son, and behaviors resulting from his disability. This group of parents included parents from the PTA Board at […]

May 16, 2012