The California Public Records Act (Statutes of 1968, Chapter 1473; currently codified as California Government Code
§§ 6250 through 6276.48) was a law passed by the California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 State Legislature

California State Legislature

The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...

 and signed by the Governor

Governor of California

The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...

 in 1968 requiring inpection and/or disclosure of governmental records to the public upon request, unless exempted by law.

The law is similar to the Freedom of Information Act

Freedom of Information Act (United States)

The Freedom of Information Act is a federal freedom of information law that allows for the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government. The Act defines agency records subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure...

, except for the fact that "the people have the right of access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business" is enshrined in Article 1 of the California Constitution

California Constitution

The document that establishes and describes the duties, powers, structure and function of the government of the U.S. state of California. The original constitution, adopted in November 1849 in advance of California attaining U.S. statehood in 1850, was superseded by the current constitution, which...

 due to California Proposition 59

California Proposition 59 (2004)

Proposition 59 was an amendment of the Constitution of California that introduced freedom of information or "sunshine" provisions...

 (the Sunshine Amendment).

Purpose

When the legislature enacted CPRA, it expressly declared that "access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state." Indeed, in California "access to government records has been deemed a fundamental interest of citizenship" and has emphasized that "maximum disclosure of the conduct of governmental operations [is] to be promoted by the act." By promoting prompt public access to government records, the CPRA is "intended to safeguard the accountability of government to the public." As the California Supreme Court recognized in CBS v. Block:

Public records and exemptions

In accordance with this policy, public records are broadly defined to include "any writing containing information relating to the conduct of a public's business prepared, owned, used or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristic[.]" Citing with approval an even broader definition of public records adopted by the California Attorney General, another court has stated:
Moreover, unless the public records of a local agency are exempt from the provisions of the CPRA, they must be made available for public inspection. Exemptions must be narrowly construed and the public agency bears the burden of proving that an exemption applies.

Most of the exemptions under the CPRA are set forth under Section 6254 and are specific as to certain records or types of records, but under Section 6255 a general exemption exists where, on the facts of the particular case, "the public interest served by not making the record public clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record." In reviewing the propriety of an agency decision to withhold records, a court is charged with ascertaining whether nondisclosure was justified under either of these statutes.

Because the CPRA was modeled after the federal Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), 5 U.S.C. Section 552 et seq, courts may look to case law under FOIA in construing the CPRA.

Orders and appeals

To facilitate prompt public access to public records, court orders either directing disclosure of public records or supporting an agency's decision of nondisclosure are immediately reviewable by an appellate court by way of an emergency petition seeking issuance of an extraordinary writ. In 1991, the California Supreme Court made clear that under this writ procedure, trial court orders are reviewable on their merits. Thus, when a trial court order under the CPRA is reviewed by an appellate court, the independent review standard is employed for legal issues and factual findings made by the trial court will be upheld if they are based on substantial evidence.

See also

• Freedom of information law in California
• Bagley-Keane Act
  Bagley-Keane Act
  The Bagley-Keene Act of 1967, officially known as the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, implements a provision of the California Constitution which declares that "the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies shall be open to public scrutiny", and explicitly mandates...
  
  
• Brown Act
  Brown Act
  The Ralph M. Brown Act, was an act of the California State Legislature, authored by Assemblymember Ralph M. Brown and passed in 1953, that guaranteed the public’s right to attend and participate in meetings of local legislative bodies....
  
  
• Californians Aware
  Californians Aware
  Californians Aware, The Center for Public Forum Rights, also known as CalAware, is a Carmichael, California based nonprofit organization established to help journalists and others keep Californians aware of what they need to know to hold government and other powerful institutions accountable for...
  
  
• County of Santa Clara v. California First Amendment Coalition
  County of Santa Clara v. California First Amendment Coalition
  County of Santa Clara v. California First Amendment Coalition was a case before the California Courts of Appeal dealing with the ability of a local California agency to limit the disclosure of, or require license agreements for, public records and data requested under the California Public Records...
  
  

External links

• [www.thefirstamendment.org/publicrecordsact.pdf Link to CPRA guide]
• Constitution of California, Article 1, §3(b)
• California Government Code, §6250-§6270
• CalAware Today (News Blog about CPRA and Other Public Records Issues)
• CalAware Community Forum (Public Records Access Discussion Board)