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Asked and Answered

Brown Act CPRA

Applicability of the Public Records Act to Private Text Messages

[…] in the Examiner that Mayor Newsom has refused to turn over Hawaii-based communications related to his conversations re: the Busan oil spill. He claims that the phone records and text messages are not public record because he used his personal iPhone and has not submitted a request for reimbursement from the City. I have […]

June 14, 2009
Latest News

Cases

Amicus Briefs Digest, Sept. 2017

[…] perhaps only a lawyer could love (but which is actually quite important), the brief argues that the government may not charge all costs for collecting and assembling electronic records, but rather are limited to the "costs of duplication" they are permitted to charge for non-electronic records under the CPRA. The plain language of the CPRA […]
- Free Expression
- Press Freedom
September 27, 2017
Asked and Answered

CPRA

How to Request Information Stored in a Database?

How does the California Public Records Act handle information stored in a database rather than a specific record (e.g. an existing, stand-alone document)? For example, if I'm looking for historical financial information on a public works project at my city, the data might be in a database and would require city staff to run […]

March 11, 2020
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Should I be able to get meta data of emails and calendars under the San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance or Public Records Act?

[…] anonymously requested from various San Francisco agencies, under the San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance and California Public Records Act, full email and calendar records, specifically in the original electronic format the city agencies hold them. While some agencies do indeed produce their emails/calendar entries in the native electronic formats like .msg, .eml, .ics, etc. which […]

April 1, 2021
Asked and Answered

Brown Act CPRA

Councilmembers texting during meeting a Brown Act violation?

[…] must be disclosed unless a specific provision of the Act or other law exempts them from disclosure. This would seem to include messages sent and received from electronic devices, which would fall into the PRA's broad definition of "writings." Gov't Code § 6252(g). While there is no published, citable decision that I am aware […]

May 23, 2013
Asked and Answered

CPRA First Amendment Police Records

Police say daily crime logs can’t be released to the public

[…] issued. The log is maintained by a patrol officer for 24-hour periods between 4 a.m. and 4 a.m. and through CPRA request have successfully obtained past logs electronically in .doc or .pdf format. However, the department Public Information Officer (PIO )has refused to provide the daily log when requested claiming they need to be […]

June 17, 2016
Asked and Answered

CPRA

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

[…] were listed as an expenditure? Just like the city of Bel, the payments aren’t matching the reports. Now the City is telling me that since they need to get records from off-site location, they need at least a month to answer the request. I denied the extension request and notified that I’m exhausting administrative remedy.

May 10, 2012
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Obtaining records without fees?

How do I obtain a public record if I can not afford the price due to economic problems? Can the S.F.P.D refuse to give me the records in electronic from?

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

Court Records

Civil Harassment Restraining Order Filings; Non-Internet Accessible

The County Superior Court maintains an "Open Access" internet database system for access to court records and filings, including dockets in all civil and criminal cases and downloads of all filed and imaged pleadings and other filed documents in civil cases -- with one exception. All dockets and imaged documents are publicly inaccessible for […]

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

Newsgathering

Audio Recording, Meetings

[…] is useful to you. Penal Code 632. (a) Every person who, intentionally and without the consent of all parties to a confidential communication, by means of any electronic amplifying or recording device, eavesdrops upon or records the confidential communication, whether the communication is carried on among the parties in the presence of one another […]

June 14, 2009