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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCalifornia Public Records Act_ City of San Luis Obispo Public Records Request Intake, Search, ProductionCity of San Luis Obispo, City Attorney’s Office, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93401-3249, 805.781.7140, slocity.org To: The City of San Luis Obispo From: Rebecca Goren, Legal Assistant Date: February 23, 2022 Re: Intake, Search, Production of Public Records Requests by the City of San Luis Obispo. Introduction The California Public Records Act (CPRA) serves as a commitment to a democratic system of “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”1 Paramount to that sentiment is government transparency, through which the public may hold its government accountable. As such, the CPRA grants “access to information concerning the conduct of the people’s business” to be a “fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state.”2 It is, thus, the duty of each California city to safeguard this right, while balancing the public interest in an efficient and effective government. Section I: Receiving a Public Records Request Every person has the right to request public records.3 There is no required method to request records from a government agency: requests can be made in writing or orally, in person, or via email, phone, or via the City website request portal.4 Regardless of form, the City of San Luis Obispo Deputy City Clerk will log any request made or known to the City Clerk as a Public Records Request (PRR) with an identifying number, indicating the year of intake.5 1 California Government Code, §6250 et seq.; Stats 1968, Ch. 1473; CBS, Inc. v. Block (1986) 42 Cal.3d 646, 651-652; 52 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen 136, 143; San Gabriel Tribune v. Superior Court (1983) 143 Cal.App.3d 762, 771-772. 2 California Government Code, §6250. 3 California Government Code, §6253, subd. (a). 4 Los Angeles Times v. Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority (2001) 88 Cal.App.4th 1381, 1392. 5 When a request for a specific document or limited scope of documents is made directly to, and completed by, staff in a City department in the regular course of City business, the request will generally not be conveyed to the City Clerk or reflected in the City Clerk’s intake log but will be responded to and fulfilled by the department. Requests for records made directly to the City of San Luis Obispo Police Department will not be reflected in the City Clerk’s intake log. The Police Department handles and documents its own requests for records that are uniquely within the control of the Police Department (e.g., police and traffic reports). For example, the 109th request of the year 2022 will be filed and identified thereafter as PRR22109. Once a request for records is received and is logged by the City Clerk, the Clerk will disseminate the request to all pertinent City departments, requesting their timely and complete search for responsive records. A request is routed to the City Attorney’s Office when it requires the inspection of City staff emails and/or the review of potentially responsive records for confidentiality, privilege, or other exemption under the CPRA. The Clerk’s office maintains a log of all records requests to track receipt dates and deadlines and to monitor progress in responding to each request. Section II: Providing a Determination Upon receipt of a Public Records Request, the City is required to respond to the requester within ten (10) days, including non-business days. This initial response must include the City’s determination “whether the request, in whole or in part, seeks copies of disclosable public records in the possession of the agency.”6 To make this determination, staff conducts an initial search of all known locations where potentially responsive records within the scope of the request may reasonably be expected to be found. Staff uses search software, currently including Microsoft 365 Compliance, to input keywords, date parameters, and other information to identify potentially response records, and may use other search methods, including manual review of files. Depending on the scope and form of the request, searches may produce dozens, hundreds, thousands, or hundreds of thousands of records that must be reviewed for responsiveness, confidentiality, privilege, and other possible exemptions from disclosure under the CPRA. These potentially responsive records are saved in an Outlook Exchange folder to be further reviewed and sorted. Once it is determined whether potentially responsive records exist, the requestor will be notified in writing within the ten (10) day timeline. The notice will state whether responsive records exist and will provide the estimated date and time when any responsive records that are not exempt from disclosure under the CPRA will be made available. Production of records must be made within a reasonable time, taking into consideration the scope of the request, the volume and ease of accessibility of potentially responsive documents, available staff resources to review and produce documents, the sensitivity and likelihood of exemption of potentially responsive documents, and other deadlines and workload priorities that must be addressed by staff. Section III: Reviewing Responsive Records for Exemption Once the determination has been made that potentially responsive records exist, staff continues to sort and review the records to determine actual responsiveness and whether any responsive records are exempt from disclosure pursuant to the CPRA. 6 California Government Code, §6255, subd. (a), “the agency shall justify withholding any record by demonstrating that the record in question is exempt under express provisions of this chapter or that on the facts of the particular case the public interest served by not disclosing the record clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record.” Immediately available non-exempt records will be produced at the earliest possible time to the requestor in light of the factors discussed above. The requestor will be notified in writing of the basis for any exemption claimed by the City if the City withholds any otherwise responsive records based on an exemption. Some of the more common exemptions from disclosure under the CPRA are: 1. California Government Code, §6254, subd. (a), “preliminary drafts, notes, or interagency or intra-agency memoranda that are not retained by public agency in the ordinary course of business, if the public interest in withholding those records clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure.” 2. California Government Code, §6254, subd. (k), “records, the disclosure of which is exempted or prohibited pursuant to federal or state law, including, but not limited to, provisions of the Evidence Code relating to privilege.” 3. California Government Code, §6254, subd. (f), “records of complaints to, or investigations conducted by, or records of intelligence information or security procedures of, . . . any state or local police agency, or any investigatory or security files compiled by any other state or local police agency . . .” Section IV: Redacting Non-Exempt Responsive Records All responsive non-exempt records are transferred from the exchange file to a document management program, currently Laserfiche. Laserfiche is an interface used to redact confidential information, in accordance with California Government Code §6254 and §6255. All records are reviewed for the second time in the interface, applying redactions to confidential or otherwise exempt information when necessary. Once required redactions are made, staff conducts a final review of all documents before making them public and notifying the requester of their production. Staff considers the request closed with this production, unless the requestor notifies the City that the requestor believes the request has not been fully fulfilled or that other potentially responsive records may exist, in which case the City will follow up further with the requestor to finalize a response to the request.