Official Summary Text
AB 1821, as amended, Pacheco.
California Public Records Act:
agency
methods of submission, fees, and agency
response time.
Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires each state or local agency, upon a request for a copy of records that reasonably describes an identifiable record or records, to make the records promptly available to any person upon payment of fees covering direct costs of duplication, or a statutory fee if applicable, except with respect to public records exempt from disclosure by express provisions of law.
This bill would require an agency to designate a physical office location and a specified email address for the submission of requests, and authorize an agency to designate other reasonable methods for the submission of requests, including submission to a physical mailing address, subject to certain requirements, including that
the agency accept upon receipt any request that is submitted at the designated physical office location or through the designated email address during the agency’s normal business hours. If an agency designates any method for the submission of requests, the bill would deem a request as properly requested for purposes of specified provisions only if the request was submitted through a method of submission that was designated by the agency. If the agency finds that a request was not submitted through a method of submission that was designated by the agency, the bill would deem the request as not properly requested at the time of submission and not subject to specified timelines otherwise applicable to the request had it been properly requested, except as specified. The bill would require an agency to provide notice to the public of any updates or changes to any method for the submission of requests designated by the agency by posting the updates or changes on its internet website.
If an agency determines that a request is a commercial use request, as defined, the bill would require a requester to submit to the agency, in addition to any other applicable fees, a payment of fees to cover the search and review time, as defined, for the request. The bill would exempt from that fee requirement any request made by an educational or noncommercial scientific institution, as specified, a government agency, and a representative of the news media, as defined. The bill would authorize an agency to petition the superior court for a determination that a requester submitted a request with malicious intent, as specified. If the court determines that the request was submitted with malicious intent, the bill would authorize the agency to impose on the requester, in addition to any other applicable fees, a payment of fees to cover the search and review time for the request. The bill would suspend an agency’s duty to respond to a request during the pendency of any
court proceeding under that provision. The bill would specify that the payment of fees by a requester to cover the search and review time for a request for these purposes includes an administrative fee and a professional fee, as specified.
Existing law requires each agency, within 10 days of a request for a copy of records, to determine whether the request seeks copies of disclosable public records in possession of the agency and to promptly notify the person of the determination and the reasons therefor. Existing law authorizes that time limit to be extended by no more than 14 days under unusual circumstances, as defined.
This bill would instead require each agency to determine whether the request seeks copies of disclosable public records in possession of the agency and to promptly notify the person as described above within 10 business days of a request for a copy of records. The bill would
instead authorize the time period for each agency to respond to be extended by no more than 14 business days.
The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose.
This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for
protecting that interest.
This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.