California Public Records Act: elected or appointed officials.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not provide specific details on the types of information that cannot be shared or the costs associated with implementing this act.

Expanding Definition of Elected or Appointed Officials in Public Records Act

AB-343 amends the California Public Records Act to include retired judges, court commissioners, and other judicial officials under its definition of 'elected or appointed official', making unauthorized disclosure of their information a crime.

What This Bill Does

• Expands the list of people who are considered 'elected or appointed officials' in the California Public Records Act.
• Includes retired judges and court commissioners as part of this expanded group.
• Adds active or retired State Bar Court judges, federal defenders, and children’s counsel to the definition.
• Makes it illegal to share certain information about these new types of officials without permission.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who work for or are retired from California's judicial system, including judges and court commissioners.
• Local government agencies that handle public records requests.

Terms To Know

Elected or Appointed Official

A person chosen by voters or appointed to a position in the government who is now included under stricter rules about sharing their personal information.

Public Records Act

A law that says most government records must be available for people to see, unless there's a good reason not to share them.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify the exact information about officials that cannot be shared without permission.
• It is unclear how much it will cost local agencies to follow these new rules.

Official Summary Text

AB 343, Pacheco.
California Public Records Act: elected or appointed officials.
Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires state and local agencies to make their records available for public inspection, unless an exemption from disclosure applies. That law exempts from disclosure specified information relating to elected or appointed officials, and makes specified disclosures of information relating to elected or appointed officials a crime. The law defines “elected or appointed official” for that purpose to include, among other things, a judge or court commissioner, a federal judge or federal defender, and a judge of a federally recognized Indian tribe.
This bill would additionally include in the definition of the term “elected or appointed official,” a retired judge or court commissioner, an
active or retired judge of the State Bar Court, a retired federal judge or federal defender, a retired judge of a federally recognized Indian tribe, and an appointee of a court to serve as children’s counsel in a family or dependency proceeding. By expanding a crime related to the unauthorized disclosure of information about elected or appointed officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
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.
The California Constitution requires the state to
reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF