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Public Meetings

Public meetings protections remain in place — for now

All, I wanted to let you know about a legislative victory that is crucial to government accountability and civic engagement. In a bipartisan vote, a committee of the California Legislature voted down AB 817, keeping in place important public-meeting protections. As we shared last week, we opposed AB 817 because it would have excused a wide range of government bodies governed […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
June 13, 2024
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Budget committee meets behind closed doors

Government Code section 54952(b) contains the definition of agencies that are covered by the Brown Act: "A commission, committee, board or other body of a local agency, whether permanent or temporary, decision-making or advisory, created by charter, ordinance , resolution or formal action of a legislative body. However, advisory committees, composed solely of […]

September 13, 2011
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Records request regarding government contractors was denied on privacy grounds

[…] i and K. We are not asking for any personal information other than the names of the persons, amounts paid in a calendar year, branch of the government the payments were made from, and general description of the payment made for people or companies either working for, or contracting with the county/city. Somehow they […]

July 13, 2010
Asked and Answered

CPRA

UC student grades and the CPRA

Access to the records of local and state government agencies in California (such the University of California schools) is governed by the California Public Records Act ("PRA"), Government Code sections 6250 et seq.Documents reflecting student grades from UC schools constitute "public records" within the meaning of the PRA because they are writings that contain […]

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Access to government officials’ email on personal account

[…] PRA exempts it from disclosure. Govt. Code Section 6252-6253. The term "writing" includes e-mail. Govt. Code Section 6252(g).A letter or e-mail sent to a public official about government business would seem to fall within this definition even if it were sent to his home address or personal e-mail account. Note, however, that in January […]

June 8, 2009
Asked and Answered

First Amendment

Threatened with expulsion for posting on public college online forum

[…] subjecting a student to disciplinary sanction solely on the basis of conduct that is speech or other communication" that, if engaged in off campus, is protected from government restriction by the First Amendment. First Amendment principles generally come into play whenever a government actor attempts to restrict speech.Whether there is an actual constitutional violation, […]

May 18, 2015
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

City Clerk requires Ad Hoc reports to be in announcements

[…] found it difficult to come to an agreement on the how to proceed in conveying our recommendations to council. I would appreciate any clarification as to the reasoning behind the city clerks request. My research on open meeting laws, accessing government records and the online resources about the Brown Act have not provided much help.

October 6, 2009
Asked and Answered

Brown Act CPRA

School Superintendent Goals: Public or Private?

The Brown Act governs public access to meetings and provides exemptions as to when a government body may meet in closed session. Under the Brown Act, the school board could meet in a closed to evaluate the performance of a school superintendent. Govt. Code § 54957(b); Duval v. Board of Trustees of Coalinga-Huron Joint Unified School […]

August 14, 2014
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Access to sheriff’s e-mail and phone records

[…] public officials using private email accounts and mobile phones to conduct the public's business seems to be becoming a pervasive problem. It would seem that if a government official uses a personal email account to send messages relating to the conduct of the public's business, a strong argument could be made that those messages […]

March 22, 2012
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Brown Act Compliance for Faculty Members Digitally Attending Academic Senate Meetings

The Brown Act allows legislative bodies to "use video teleconferencing for the benefit of the public of the legislative body." Government Code section 54953(b). The term "teleconference" means a "meeting of individuals in different locations, connected by electronic means, through either audio, video, or both." Government Code section 54953(b)(4). A legislative body is permitted […]

May 15, 2018