California Public Records Act:
Basic Terms and Concepts
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Q: What is the basic law providing public access to local
government information and records in California?
Q: What is the purpose of the CPRA?
Q: What information does the CPRA cover? What does the word
"public" mean?
Q: Which local agencies does the CPRA apply to?
Q: Which if any non-governmental organizations are subject to
the CPRA?
Q: Would a local office of the California state government be
covered by the CPRA?
Q: Would a local office of the federal government be covered by
the CPRA?
Q: Assuming we're dealing with a covered agency, which of its
"records" does the CPRA apply to? What does the Act mean by "records"?
Q: What if an agency says that under its policy or nomenclature,
a certain document is not considered a "record" or a "public record"?
Does the CPRA still apply?
Q: What if an agency doesn't have to create or keep a certain
document, but does so just for its own convenience or "internal" purposes? Does
the CPRA apply then?
Q: Is the CPRA's scope limited to documents in verbal form?
What if there are no words involved?
Q: Who has access rights under the CPRA?
Q: Are access rights limited to living, breathing
"persons"?
Q: Why the distinction between "person" and
"member of the public"? Aren't they the same?
Q: Do public officials have any special status in making CPRA
requests?
Q: Does a public agency have some leeway in adopting
regulations about public access to records?
Q: Do many agencies provide better access than is strictly
required under the CPRA?
Q: What is the basic law providing public access to local
government information and records in California?
A: The law is called the California Public Records Act (CPRA), and begins with
California Government Code Section 6250.
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Q: What is the purpose of the CPRA?
A: It purpose is to permit the public to understand how the government is performing
its functions. As stated in its preamble (Section 6250), the law was enacted because
"the Legislature, mindful of the right of individuals to privacy, finds and declares
that access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business is a
fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state."
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Q: What information does the CPRA cover? What does the word
"public" mean?
A: In the term "public records", the "public" element refers to
material held by agencies of California's state and local governments, as stated in
subdivision (d) of Section 6252, and as furtther elaborated in subdivisions (a) and (b):
"(d) 'Public records' includes any writing containing information relating to the
conduct of the public's business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local
agency regardless of physical form or characteristics.
"(a) 'State agency' means every state office, officer, department, division,
bureau, board, and commission or other state body or agency, except those agencies
provided for in Article IV (except Section 20 thereof) or Article VI of the California
Constitution.
"(b) 'Local agency' includes a county; city, whether general law or chartered;
city and county; school district; municipal corporation; district; political subdivision;
or any board, commission or agency thereof; other local public agency; or nonprofit
organizations of local governmental agencies and officials which are supported solely by
public funds.
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Q: Which local agencies does the CPRA apply to?
A: On the local level, all government agencies but courts are covered - essentially the
same field governed by the Ralph M. Brown Act with respect to meetings. The California
Supreme Court has held that county grand juries, although not strictly speaking
"provided for" in Article VI of the California Constitution, are essentially
agencies of the courts and therefore exempt from the Act (McClatchy Newspapers v.
Superior Court, 44 Cal. 3d 1162 (1988)).
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Q: Which if any non-governmental organizations are subject to the
CPRA?
A: The Act covers an association of local officials or agencies, but only if all its
funding comes from governmental sources.
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Q: Would a local office of the California state government be
covered by the CPRA?
A. Yes. As noted in Section 6252(b), the Act applies to the records of state as well as
local agencies.
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Q: Would a local office of the federal government be covered by
the CPRA?
A. No. The CPRA reaches only California government agencies. Federal agencies (that is,
divisions or departments in the executive branch) are subject to the Freedom of
Information Act (Title 5 U.S.C. 552 et seq.).
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Q: Assuming we're dealing with a covered agency, which of its
"records" does the CPRA apply to? What does the Act mean by "records"?
A: The "records" element of "public records" is comprehensive. As
noted above, it refers to any "writing" concerning the public's business,
subdivision (e) of Section 6252 states:
"Writing" means handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating,
photographing, and every other means of recording upon any form of communication or
representation, including letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combination
thereof, and all papers, maps, magnetic or paper tapes, photographic films and prints,
magnetic or punched cards, discs, drums, and other documents.
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Q: What if an agency says that under its policy or nomenclature,
a certain document is not considered a "record" or a "public record"?
Does the CPRA still apply?
A: Yes. Agencies cannot escape the mandates of the Act by taking the position that
their records do not meet some more specialized definition of "public records"
elsewhere in the law, so long as they fall within the broad definitions in Section 6252 (Cook
v. Craig, 55 Cal. App. 3d 773 (California Court of Appeal, 3d Dist. 1976).
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Q: What if an agency doesn't have to create or keep a certain
document, but does so just for its own convenience or "internal" purposes? Does
the CPRA apply then?
A: Yes. The Act applies to records whether they are required by law to be created and
maintained or whether they are a matter of the agency's own discretion and convenience -
unless a statute specifically provides that only records required to be kept need be made
accessible, for example with respect to county assessor's records (Statewide
Homeowners, Inc. v. Williams, 30 Cal. App. 3d 567 (California Court of Appeal, 4th
Dist. 1973)).
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Q: Is the CPRA's scope limited to documents in verbal form? What
if there are no words involved?
A: The "writings" encompassed in the definition of which "records"
are subject to the Act involve far more than the medium of words. They include every
perceptible item in any form which is fixed and reproducible enough to be communicated in
some manner - verbal or nonverbal, qualitative or quantitative information, mediated by
whatever technology.
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Q: Who has access rights under the CPRA?
A: Generally, any "person" can inspect or copy records subject to the Act.
Government Code Section 6252 states that, as used in the Act:
(c) 'Person' includes any natural person, corporation, partnership, limited liability
company, firm, or association.
(f) 'Member of the public' means any person, except a member, agent, officer, or
employee of a federal, state, or local agency acting within the scope of his or her
membership, agency, office, or employment.
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Q: Are access rights limited to living, breathing
"persons"?
A: No. The universe of those with rights of access under the CPRA is not limited to
living individuals. Note that under subdivision (c), any private organization with a legal
personality - capable of suing and being sued - is also an entitled "person".
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Q: Why the distinction between "person" and
"member of the public"? Aren't they the same?
A: Elsewhere in the CPRA it is stated that an agency's ability to consider a record
confidential may be waived if that same record has already been disclosed to a
"member of the public". The distinction in subdivision (f) simply clarifies that
a waiver will not occur if the record is shown to a government official acting in his or
her official capacity.
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Q: Do public officials have any special status in making CPRA
requests?
A: Ordinarily, no. But there is one public officer which the CPRA treats with special
rules - the district attorney. The principal differences from the general rules are that a
state or local licensing agency may not use the exemption for investigative records to
deny access to the district attorney, and that the deadline of 10 working days from the
request for records requires not only a "determination" as to whether the record
is exempt, but the actual production of any non-exempt records. Otherwise the rules are
quite similar to the general provisions:
Section 6262. The exemption of records of complaints to, or investigations conducted
by, any state or local agency for licensing purposes under subdivision (f) of Section 6254
shall not apply when a request for inspection of such records is made by a district
attorney.Section 6263. A state or local agency shall allow an inspection or copying of any
public record or class of public records not exempted by this chapter when requested by a
district attorney.
Section 6264.The district attorney may petition a court of competent jurisdiction to
require a state or local agency to allow him to inspect or receive a copy of any public
record or class of public records not exempted by this chapter when the agency fails or
refuses to allow inspection or copying within 10 working days of a request. The court may
require a public agency to permit inspection or copying by the district attorney unless
the public interest or good cause in withholding such records clearly outweighs the public
interest in disclosure.
Section 6265. Disclosure of records to a district attorney under the provisions of this
chapter shall effect no change in the status of the records under any other provision of
law.
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Q: Does a public agency have some leeway in adopting regulations
about public access to records?
A: Any public agency is free to adopt its own regulations and guidelines so long as
they are consistent with, and do not reduce access under, the Act. It is even free to
allow access beyond the requirements of the Act - to provide even greater, faster or
cheaper access, for example - unless the result would be a disclosure prohibited by some
other law. Some state or regional agencies are required to have written access guidelines
and to provide free copies of them on request. The CPRA states:
Section 6253. (a) . . . Every agency may adopt regulations stating the procedures to be
followed when making its records available in accordance with this section. The following
state and local bodies shall establish written guidelines for accessibility of records. A
copy of these guidelines shall be posted in a conspicuous public place at the offices of
these bodies, and a copy of the guidelines shall be available upon request free of charge
to any person requesting that body's records:
Department of Motor Vehicles
Department of Consumer Affairs
Department of Transportation
Department of Real Estate
Department of Corrections
Department of the Youth Authority
Department of Justice
Department of Insurance
Department of Corporations
Secretary of State
State Air Resources Board
Department of Water Resources
Department of Parks and Recreation
San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission
State Board of Equalization
State Department of Health Services
Employment Development Department
State Department of Social Services
State Department of Mental Health
State Department of Developmental Services
State Department of Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development
Public Employees' Retirement System
Teachers' Retirement Board
Department of Industrial Relations
Department of General Services
Department of Veterans Affairs
Public Utilities Commission
California Coastal Commission
State Water Quality Control Board
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District
All regional water quality control boards
Los Angeles County Air Pollution Control District
Bay Area Air Pollution Control District
Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District.
(b) Guidelines and regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall be consistent
with all other sections of this chapter and shall reflect the intention of the Legislature
to make the records accessible to the public. The guidelines and regulations adopted
pursuant to this section shall not operate to limit the hours public records are open for
inspection as prescribed in subdivision (a).
Section 6253.1. Except as otherwise prohibited by law, a state or local agency may
adopt requirements for itself which allow greater access to records than prescribed by the
minimum standards set forth in this chapter.
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Q: Do many agencies provide better access than is strictly
required under the CPRA?
A. Not so far. Section 6253.1 is probably the only provision of the Act that almost
never gets cited by a government agency as authority for its policy. That section
authorizes a reduction of secrecy. It means that unless some particular law clearly
mandates a restriction on access, an agency is free to accommodate the public and in
effect waive a discretionary exemption. The principal mechanism for this accommodation is
found in the variety of local "Sunshine Ordinances" which cities and counties
have begun to adopt with the encouragement and assistance of the California First
Amendment Coaltion. These policies have been adopted, for example, by the cities of
Richmond and Oakland, by Contra Costa County, and by the City and County of San Francisco.
For more information, contact CFAC at (916) 974-8888.
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