The state attorney general has prepared a summary of the rules governing (timely) processing of Public Records Act requests. See below. As a prior blog post has noted, the Faculty Association has requested the business plan under the Act. See http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2011/11/waiting-for-plans-on-conceptual-hotel.htmlCalifornia Public Records Act CPRA (Attorney General’s Summary): Excerpts
In enacting the CPRA, the Legislature stated that access to information concerning the conduct of the public’s business is a fundamental and necessary right for every person in the State…
Records may be inspected at an agency during its regular office hours. The CPRA contains no provision for a charge to be imposed in connection with the mere inspection of records. Copies of records may be obtained for the direct cost of duplication, unless the Legislature has established a statutory fee…
To the extent reasonable, agencies are generally required to assist members of the public in making focused and effective requests for identifiable records…
A person need not give notice in order to inspect public records at an agency’s offices during normal working hours. However, if the records are not readily accessible or if portions of the records must be redacted in order to protect exempt material, the agency must be given a reasonable period of time to perform these functions.
When a copy of a record is requested, the agency shall determine within ten days whether to comply with the request, and shall promptly inform the requester of its decision and the reasons therefor. Where necessary, because either the records or the personnel that need to be consulted regarding the records are not readily available, the initial ten-day period to make a determination may be extended for up to fourteen days. If possible, records deemed subject to disclosure should be provided at the time the determination is made. If immediate disclosure is not possible, the agency must provide the records within a reasonable period of time, along with an estimate of the date that the records will be available. The Public Records Act does not permit an agency to delay or obstruct the inspection or copying of public records…
Under specified circumstances, the CPRA affords agencies a variety of discretionary exemptions which they may utilize as a basis for withholding records from disclosure. These exemptions generally include personnel records, investigative records, drafts, and material made confidential by other state or federal statutes. In addition, a record may be withheld whenever the public interest in nondisclosure clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure. When an agency withholds a record because it is exempt from disclosure, the agency must notify the requester of the reasons for withholding the record. Finally, when a written request is denied, it must be denied in writing…
EXEMPTION FOR PRELIMINARY NOTES, DRAFTS AND MEMORANDA (Gov. Code, § 6254(a))
Under this exemption, materials must be (1) notes, drafts or memoranda (2) which are not retained in the ordinary course of business (3) where the public interest in nondisclosure clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure. This exemption has little or no effect since the deliberative process privilege was clearly established under the balancing test in section 6255 in 1991, but is mentioned here because it is in the Act.
…In order to withhold a record under section 6255, an agency must demonstrate that the public’s interest in nondisclosure clearly outweighs the public’s interest in disclosure. A particular agency’s interest in nondisclosure is of little consequence in performing this balancing test; it is the public’s interest, not the agency’s that is weighed…
Source and full summary at http://ag.ca.gov/publications/summary_public_records_act.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment