HomeMy WebLinkAboutGOV_6253. (1)State of California
GOVERNMENT CODE
Section 6253
6253. (a) Public records are open to inspection at all times during the office hours
of the state or local agency and every person has a right to inspect any public record,
except as hereafter provided. Any reasonably segregable portion of a record shall be
available for inspection by any person requesting the record after deletion of the
portions that are exempted by law.
(b) Except with respect to public records exempt from disclosure by express
provisions of law, each state or local agency, upon a request for a copy of records
that reasonably describes an identifiable record or records, shall make the records
promptly available to any person upon payment of fees covering direct costs of
duplication, or a statutory fee if applicable. Upon request, an exact copy shall be
provided unless impracticable to do so.
(c) Each agency, upon a request for a copy of records, shall, within 10 days from
receipt of the request, determine whether the request, in whole or in part, seeks copies
of disclosable public records in the possession of the agency and shall promptly notify
the person making the request of the determination and the reasons therefor. In unusual
circumstances, the time limit prescribed in this section may be extended by written
notice by the head of the agency or their designee to the person making the request,
setting forth the reasons for the extension and the date on which a determination is
expected to be dispatched. No notice shall specify a date that would result in an
extension for more than 14 days. When the agency dispatches the determination, and
if the agency determines that the request seeks disclosable public records, the agency
shall state the estimated date and time when the records will be made available. As
used in this section, “unusual circumstances” means the following, but only to the
extent reasonably necessary to the proper processing of the particular request:
(1) The need to search for and collect the requested records from field facilities
or other establishments that are separate from the office processing the request.
(2) The need to search for, collect, and appropriately examine a voluminous amount
of separate and distinct records that are demanded in a single request.
(3) The need for consultation, which shall be conducted with all practicable speed,
with another agency having substantial interest in the determination of the request or
among two or more components of the agency having substantial subject matter
interest therein.
(4) The need to compile data, to write programming language or a computer
program, or to construct a computer report to extract data.
(d) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to permit an agency to delay or
obstruct the inspection or copying of public records.
(1) A requester who inspects a disclosable record on the premises of the agency
has the right to use the requester’s equipment on those premises, without being charged
any fees or costs, to photograph or otherwise copy or reproduce the record in a manner
that does not require the equipment to make physical contact with the record, unless
the means of copy or reproduction would result in either of the following:
(A) Damage to the record.
(B) Unauthorized access to the agency’s computer systems or secured networks
by using software, equipment, or any other technology capable of accessing, altering,
or compromising the agency’s electronic records.
(2) The agency may impose any reasonable limits on the use of the requester’s
equipment that are necessary to protect the safety of the records or to prevent the
copying of records from being an unreasonable burden to the orderly function of the
agency and its employees. In addition, the agency may impose any limit that is
necessary to maintain the integrity of, or ensure the long-term preservation of, historic
or high-value records.
(3) The notification of denial of any request for records required by Section 6255
shall set forth the names and titles or positions of each person responsible for the
denial.
(e) Except as otherwise prohibited by law, a state or local agency may adopt
requirements for itself that allow for faster, more efficient, or greater access to records
than prescribed by the minimum standards set forth in this chapter.
(f) In addition to maintaining public records for public inspection during the office
hours of the public agency, a public agency may comply with subdivision (a) by
posting any public record on its internet website and, in response to a request for a
public record posted on the internet website, directing a member of the public to the
location on the internet website where the public record is posted. However, if after
the public agency directs a member of the public to the internet website, the member
of the public requesting the public record requests a copy of the public record due to
an inability to access or reproduce the public record from the internet website, the
public agency shall promptly provide a copy of the public record pursuant to
subdivision (b).
(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 695, Sec. 1. (AB 1819) Effective January 1, 2020.)