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  • Pages

    Explainers

    FAC’s Explainer page provides information about topics relating to public records, open meetings, and freedom of speech that we are often asked about. The information you are looking for may be here, but if it is not, please feel free to submit a request to our Legal Hotline.

    July 3, 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?

    For nearly a year, I’ve been seeking public records related to administrative conduct at a public high 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. […]

    May 27, 2025

  • Asked and Answered

    CPRA

    Can An Agency Charge Fees for Inspecting Public Records?

    Yes, fees may be charged for obtaining a copy an electronic copy of a record and those costs can vary.  However, I am not aware of any case law or statute that allows an agency to charge for inspection.  Charges for obtaining electronic documents are generally limited to the direct cost of providing a […]

    February 26, 2018

  • Asked and Answered

    CPRA

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

    I resigned from my job at a government entity. I submitted a CPRA request to my former workplace, seeking records related to disciplinary actions taken against me. 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 […]

    May 15, 2025

  • Asked and Answered

    CPRA

    Agency won’t provide records in electronic format

    In response to our public records request for electronic data, public agencies have refused to release data in Excel format. They have instead given us pdfs or hard copies. Their reasons are vague, ranging from concerns we will manipulate the data to saying it's not their policy to release data in that format. I […]

    August 18, 2010

  • Asked and Answered

    CPRA

    Public Availability and Destruction of Temporary or Handwritten Notes

    […] the following conditions are complied with: (a) The record, paper, or document is photographed, microphotographed, reproduced by electronically recorded video images on magnetic surfaces, recorded in the electronic data processing system, recorded on optical disk, reproduced on film or any other medium that is a trusted system and that does not permit additions, deletions, […]

    June 14, 2009

  • Asked and Answered

    CPRA

    How Long Do Agencies Have to Keep Records?

    How long do state agencies have to keep records?  The Department of Fish and Game tells us they destroyed the records we wanted because they are over 4 years old.

    June 14, 2009