The document provides an overview of the California Public Records Act (PRA), including the legal standard, what constitutes a public record, benefits of the PRA, examples of how the PRA has been used, what agencies are covered, how to make a request, an agency's duty to respond, and options if a request is denied. Some key points include: the PRA aims to increase government transparency and public access to information; public records include any document relating to public business; and if a request is denied, the agency has the burden to prove an exemption applies or the requester can appeal or take legal action.

1. California Public Records
Request Act
Working Group
04/16

2. Knowledge
is power
“Build power, not paranoia.” -Stop Lapd Spying Coalition

3. Legal Standard
● The Public Records Act… was enacted in 1968 and provides that ‘every person has a
right to inspect any public record
● The act was adopted ‘for the explicit purpose of “increasing freedom of information”
by giving the public “access to information in possession of public agencies.”’ (CBS,
Inc. v. Block (1986) 42 Cal.3d 646, 651.
● As the Legislature declared in enacting the measure, ‘the Legislature… 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.’ (§6250.)” (Roberts
v. City of Palmdale (1993) 5 Cal. 4th 363, 370).

4. What are Public Records?
● The PRA defines “public records” as “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.” The term “public records” encompasses more than simply
those documents that public officials are required by law to keep as official records. The public
has a right to receive information in the possession of any institution funded by the public and
private bodies performing public functions, such as water and electricity providers.
● Writings: A writing is defined as “any handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating,
photographing, photocopying, transmitting by electronic mail or facsimile, and every other means
of recording upon any tangible thing any form of communication or representation, including
letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combinations thereof, and any record thereby
created, regardless of the manner in which the record has been stored.”
Source: The People’s Business: A GUIDE TO THE CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RECORDS ACT

5. Benefits of PRA’s
● Knowledge is power
● Whose information is it anyway?
● If the state doesn’t want the public to know about it, the more the public should want to
know about it
● The right to information is a powerful counterweight to government secrecy
● It is one tool among many a tool in a larger toolkit that can assist us in our fight
● Frequently a tool used by journalists

6. Examples of PRA’s
● Through these requests, documents were eventually released on government monitoring of Black
Lives Matter protests, including internal emails and field reports that were circulated among law
enforcement agencies in 2016. The records provide important primary source documentation that
have helped increase public awareness about the civil rights and privacy threats stemming from
government monitoring of organizing and dissent.
● Stop LAPD Spying used PRA’s to uncover information on the person based predictive policing
program that LAPD was using and through the information obtained, was able to force the
dismantlement of the program. The coalition also filed a lawsuit against the LAPD for refusing to turn
over the names of individuals they were targeting through this program and eventually won that
lawsuit forcing LAPD to turn over the names of the individuals targeted
● Requests filed at the federal level led to the disclosure of records from the Air Force revealing for the
first time a Defense Department policy that apparently authorizes warrantless monitoring of U.S.
citizens and green-card holders
● There are many more!

7. What Agencies are Covered?
● The PRA applies to state and local agencies
○ A state agency is defined as “every state office, officer, department, division, bureau, board
and commission or other state body or agency.”
○ A local agency includes a county, city (whether general law or chartered), city and county,
school district, municipal corporation, special district, community college district, or political
subdivision. This encompasses any committees, boards, commissions, or departments of
those entities as well.
○ Private entities that are delegated legal authority to carry out public functions, and private
entities (1) that receive funding from a local agency, and (2) whose governing board includes
a member of the local agency’s legislative body who is appointed by that legislative body
and who is
a full voting member of the private entity’s governing board, are also subject to the PRA.
○ Nonprofit entities that are legislative bodies under the Brown Act may be subject to the
PRA.

8. ● No magic words need be used to trigger the local agency’s obligation to respond to a request for records.
The content of the request must simply indicate that a public record is being sought.
● Occasionally a requester may incorrectly refer to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) ((FOIA)
requests apply to federal agencies) as the legal basis for the request. This does not excuse the agency
from responding if the request seeks public records.
● A public records request need not state its purpose or the use to which the record will be put by the
requester. A requester does not have to justify or explain the reason for exercising his or her fundamental
right of access.
● A request does not need to precisely identify the record or records being sought. For example, a requester
may not know the exact date of a record or its title or author, but if the request is descriptive enough for the
local agency to understand which records fall within its scope, the request is reasonable.
● Under the CPRA, if a record is a public record then it must be disclosed. §§6253(a), 6256.
Content of the Request

9. ● A public records request is different than a question or series of questions posed to local agency officials or
employees.
● The PRA creates no duty to answer written or oral questions submitted by members of the public. But if an existing
and readily available record contains information that would directly answer a question, it is advisable to either
answer the question or provide the record in response to the question.
● The rights under the CPRA provide for the inspection of public records or to obtain copies of identifiable records, it
does not compel the agency to create lists or reports in response to the request.
Example: Request submitted to LAPD
Content of the Request Cont.

10. Content of the Request Cont.
“A public records request must reasonably describe an identifiable record or records. It must be focused, specific,and
reasonably clear, so that the local agency can decipher what record or records are being sought. A request that is so
open- ended that it amounts to asking for all of a department’s files is not reasonable. If a request is not clear or is
overly broad, the local agency has a duty to assist the requester in reformulating the request to make it clearer or less
broad.”-The People’s Business
Example: Request submitted to LAPD

11. Example Requests:
● Any and all communication including but not limited to emails, reports, and/or bulletins between the Los
Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office regarding locations that have been
designated as LASER zones, Anchor Points, hotspot corridors, and/or chronic locations, and/or nuisance
locations.
● Any and all documents, graphs, charts, files, and/or data shared between the Los Angeles Police Department
and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office regarding the LASER program
● Any and all manuals, bulletins, guidelines, protocols, and/or instructions given to officers deployed in LASER
zones describing and/or detailing missions and/or actions they are to complete, carry out, and/or implement
with regard to anchor points, and/or chronic locations, and/or nuisance locations.
● See next page

13. Agency’s duty to respond to request
● The fundamental purpose of the PRA is to provide access to information about the conduct of the people’s business. This
right of access to public information imposes a duty on local agencies to respond to PRA requests and does not “permit an
agency to delay or obstruct the inspection or copying of public records.” Even if the request does not reasonably describe an
identifiable record, the requested record does not exist, or the record is exempt from disclosure, the agency must respond.
● The California Public Records Act requires an Agency to provide a response to the public records request within 10 calendar
days. , to notify the requester whether records will be disclosed.
● If the request is received after business hours or on a weekend or holiday, the next business day may be considered the date
of receipt.
● The 10-day response period starts with the first calendar day after the date of receipt. If the tenth day falls on a weekend or
holiday, the next business day is considered the deadline for responding to the request.
● A local agency may extend the 10-day response period for copies of public records for up to 14 additional calendar days
● If a local agency exercises its right to extend the response time beyond the ten-day period, it must do so in writing, stating
the reason or reasons for the extension and the anticipated date of the response within the 14-day extension period. The
agency does not need the consent of the requester to extend the time for response.

14. ● Local agencies often have their own process for how to submit
● Many agencies use https://www.nextrequest.com
● UCI-California Public Records Act (CPRA) may be submitted to the Public Records Office (PRO)
using any of the following methods:
○ Email: pra@uci.edu
○ Letter:
University of California, Irvine
Public Records Office
Irvine, CA 92697-1430
● Targeting multiple agencies with the same request can help the requester get the information they are looking for
How to Make a Request

15. Legal Precedent regarding denial of requests
● If the agency objects to disclosure, the agency carries the burden of proof to show that the requested records are exempt
from disclosure. §6255 . If the agency fails to carry that burden, the requested records
● If the agency fails to carry that burden, the requested records must be disclosed. New York Times v. Superior Court (1990)
218 Cal. App. 3d 1579, 1586-87 (Court of Appeal reversed trial court because that court failed “to place the burden on the
agency to justify withholding the information sought” under the CPRA); Braun v. City of Taft (1984) (The burden of
demonstrating a need for nondisclosure is upon the agency claiming the right to withhold the information.”).
● Not only the CPRA itself requires that exemptions to disclosure be narrowly construed so as to favor disclosure, e.g.,
Citizens for a Better Environment v. Dept. of Food & Agriculture (1985) 171 Cal.App.3d 704, 711, but [MS3] the
California constitution also “direct[s] the courts to broadly construe statutes that grant public access to government
information and to narrowly construe statutes that limit such access.” Long Beach Police Officers Ass’n v. City of Long
Beach (2014) 59 Cal. 4th 59, 68 (citing Cal. Const., Art. I § 3 subd. (b)(2)).
● The public interest in transparency and “ensuring accountability is particularly strong where the discretion invested in a
government official is unfettered” and where “the degree of subjectivity involved in exercising the discretion cries out for
public scrutiny.” CBS, Inc. v. Block (1986) 42 Cal. 3d 646, 655.
● As a general rule, when exempt material is segregable from nonexempt material, the former may be withheld but the
remainder of the record must be disclosed. § 6253(a); State Bd. Of Equalization v. Superior Court (1992) 10 Cal. App. 4th
1177, 1187

16. What happens if my request is denied?
There are myriad ways agencies impede access to information, and understanding the contours of the law
can help overcome these hurdles
● Frequent reasons the agency may attempt to deny your request
○ Privacy Waiver exemption
○ Investigatory exemption
○ Burden Exemption
If you believe the exemption(s) the agency is claiming is not applicable to your request, do not give up!
● You have several options open to you should your request be denied.
○ If the agency is relying on an exemption, request that the agency waive the exemption because exemptions are
permissive, not mandatory and/or explain why the exemption is not applicable and that by law they are required to turn
over the information being sought
○ Request the release the nonexempt portions of the record with the exempt portions removed or redacted
○ Look to see whether the agency has any process in place to appeal the denial. Some agencies have created a formal
process for administrative appeal and some municipal agencies have adopted sunshine ordinances providing for
administrative review of denials. If this option is available, pursue it before starting any court action.
○ If administrative appeals are not available, or if your request is denied after administrative review, you are entitled to
seek court review of the denial (Cal. Gov't Code §§ 5258-5260).

17. Example of some requests we may want to make
● Correspondence between ucipd and uci administration
● Information that uci has requested from or is receiving from zoom
● operations plans, planning documents, incident reports, crime reports, mass arrest
reports, after action reports, injury reports, supplemental reports, property damage
reports, documents referencing field contacts, detentions, and citations, and other
reports pertaining to the demonstration that occurred on
● Records of police communications during and pertaining to each picket or demonstration
● Correspondence with any and all other law enforcement agencies regarding __
● Records identifying the UCPD roster and chain of command for each picket or demonstration

18. Breakout
sessions by
campus
Purpose:
Begin generating a
public records act
request

19. Resources
● Organizations listed here monitor agency compliance with FOIA and developments in FOIA law; they also
advocate for improved agency compliance: https://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/c.php?g=320807&p=2146498
● Best Practices Guide to FOIA Collaboration
● Refer to California First Amendment Project's Q&A on using legal action to enforce disclosure.

20. Sources
The People’s Business: A GUIDE TO THE CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RECORDS ACT
Stop LAPD Spying coalition documents & lawsuit