BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 634
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          Date of Hearing:  August 28, 2014

                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
                                Bob Wieckowski, Chair
                      AB 634 (Gomez) - As Amended: June 15, 2014

                                  FOR Concurrence 

           SUBJECT  :  Public records: exception to disclosure: public  
          officials
           
          KEY ISSUE  :  Should the law that permits a public official to  
          designate an employer or professional association to make a  
          Public Records non-disclosure request on his or her behalf be  
          expanded to allow the official to designate his or her  
          collective bargaining representative to make that request? 

                                      synopsis

          Under existing law, elected and appointed officials may demand  
          that his or her home address or telephone number not be  
          disclosed to the public, and if such a demand has been made, the  
          law  prohibits a person, business, or association from publicly  
          posting or displaying that official's home address or telephone  
          number on the Internet.  Existing law also allows the official  
          to designate his or her employer, or a related governmental  
          entity or professional association, to act as that official's  
          agent for the purpose of making the written demand.  This bill  
          would, additionally, authorize a peace officer, District  
          Attorney, or Deputy District Attorney to also authorize his or  
          her recognized collective bargaining representative to make that  
          written demand.

           SUMMARY  :  Authorizes the recognized collective bargaining  
          representative of an elected or appointed official who is a  
          peace officer, a District Attorney, or a Deputy District  
          Attorney to make a demand that certain information not be  
          disclosed under a Public Records Act request.

           EXISTING LAW  :  

          1)Provides, under the California Public Records Act (CPRA), that  
            all public records are accessible to the public upon request,  
            unless the record requested is exempt from public disclosure.   









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          2)Prohibits a state or local agency, as defined, from posting  
            the home address or telephone number of any elected or  
            appointed official on the Internet without first obtaining the  
            written permission of that individual.
           
          3)Prohibits a person from knowingly posting the home address or  
            telephone number of any elected or appointed official, or of  
            the official's residing spouse or child, on the Internet  
            knowing that person is an elected or appointed official and  
            intending to cause imminent great bodily harm that is likely  
            to occur or threatening to cause imminent great bodily harm to  
            that individual, and provides that a violation is a  
            misdemeanor, unless the violation leads to the bodily injury  
            of the official, or his or her residing spouse or child, in  
            which case the violation is a misdemeanor or a felony.  

          4)Prohibits a person, business, or association from publicly  
            posting or publicly displaying on the Internet the home  
            address or telephone number of any elected or appointed  
            official if that official has made a written demand of that  
            person, business, or association to not disclose his or her  
            home address or telephone number.  

          5)States that a written non-disclosure demand made by a state  
            constitutional officer, a mayor, or a Member of the  
            Legislature, a city council, or a board of supervisors must  
            include a statement describing a threat or fear for the safety  
            of that official or of any person residing at the official's  
            home address, and provides that written demand made by an  
            elected official is effective for four years, regardless of  
            whether or not the official's term has expired prior to the  
            end of the four-year period.  

          6)Authorizes an elected or appointed official to designate in  
            writing the official's employer, a related governmental  
            entity, or any voluntary professional association of similar  
            officials to act, on behalf of that official, as that  
            official's agent with regard to making a written demand.

          7)Requires a written demand made by an official's agent to  
            include a statement describing a threat or fear for the safety  
            of that official or of any person residing at the official's  
            home address.  









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          8)Defines "elected or appointed official" to include, but is not  
            limited to, all of the following: state constitutional  
            officers; Members of the Legislature; judges and court  
            commissioners; district attorneys; public defenders; members  
            of a city council; members of a board of supervisors;  
            appointees of the Governor; appointees of the Legislature;  
            mayors; city attorneys; police chiefs and sheriffs; a public  
            safety official; state administrative law judges; federal  
            judges and federal defenders; and Members of the United States  
            Congress and appointees of the President.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  As currently in print this bill is keyed  
          non-fiscal.

           COMMENTS  :  The California Public Records Act requires state and  
          local agencies to make public records available for inspection  
          by the public, with specified exceptions.  One such exception  
          prohibits a person, business, or association from publicly  
          posting or displaying on the Internet the home address or  
          telephone number of any elected or appointed official if that  
          official has made a written demand to not have that information  
          disclosed, and allows the official to designate his or her  
          employer, or a related governmental entity or professional  
          association, to act as that official's agent for the purpose of  
          making the written demand.  This bill would, additionally,  
          authorize a peace officer, as defined, a District Attorney, or a  
          Deputy District Attorney to also authorize his or her recognized  
          collective bargaining representative to make that written  
          demand.

          The content of the written demand made by the official's  
          collective bargaining representative shall, like any other  
          demand under existing law, include a statement describing the  
          threat or fear for the safety of the official and persons  
          residing at the official's home address.  Peace officers,  
          District Attorneys, and Deputy District Attorneys often rely  
          upon the services of their union representatives regarding  
          work-related problems.  This bill would simply give the elected  
          or appointed official the option of asking a collective  
          bargaining representative to submit the written demand on his or  
          her behalf instead of asking the employer or a professional  
          association.  


           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   








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           Support  :

          California Fraternal Order of Police
          Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association
          Long Beach Police Officers Association
          Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs Association
          Santa Ana Police Officers Association

           Opposition  :

          None on file 
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Thomas Clark / JUD. / (916) 319-2334