BILL NUMBER: SB 1337 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 21, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 3, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Senator DeSaulnier
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act to amend Sections Section
6253 and 6253.9 of, and to add Section 7550.7 to,
the Government Code, relating to state government.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1337, as amended, DeSaulnier. Public records and reports.
(1) The California Public Records Act requires every state or
local agency to make public records open to inspection at all times
during regular office hours and provides that every person has a
right to inspect any public record, except as specified.
Existing law requires a state or local agency to follow certain
procedures with respect to electronic copies of public records and
does not require a state or local agency to reconstruct a record in
an electronic format if the agency no longer has the record available
in an electronic format. Existing law requires a state or
local agency to determine whether a request seeks copies of
disclosable public records in the possession of the agency within 10
days from the receipt of the request, except as specified.
This bill would require a state agency to provide an
electronic copy of a public record created on or after January 1,
2016, when the public record is made available in response to a
request. This bill would also require
, beginning January 1, 2016, a state agency to
provide a public record as soon as possible and no later
than within 30 days of the date that the agency
has determined that a request is for a disclosable public record in
the possession of the agency , except in unusual circumstances,
as provided .
(2) Existing law generally sets out the requirements for the
submission of written reports by public agencies to the Legislature,
the Governor, the Controller, and state legislative and other
executive entities.
This bill would require a written report, as defined, submitted by
any state agency or department to the Legislature, a Member of the
Legislature, or any state legislative or executive body to include a
signed statement by the head of the agency or department declaring
that the factual contents of the written report are true, accurate,
and complete to the best of his or her knowledge.
This bill would also make any person who declares as true any
material matter pursuant to these provisions that he or she knows to
be false liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $20,000.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 6253 of the Government Code is amended to read:
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 and as provided in subdivision (e), 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 his or her 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 in accordance with subdivision (d) . 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) Once a state agency has determined that a request is for a
disclosable public record in the possession of the state agency,
pursuant to subdivision (c), the state agency shall promptly provide
the requested public record, and the state agency shall not provide
the requested public record later than 30 days after the
determination. In unusual circumstances, as defined in subdivision
(c), the head of the state agency or his or her designee may extend
the time limit prescribed in this subdivision by providing written
notice to the person making the request that sets forth the reasons
for the extension and the date on which the state agency expects to
provide the disclosable public record. The notice shall not specify a
date that would result in an extension of more than 14 days.
(d)
( e) This chapter shall not be construed to
permit an agency to delay or obstruct the inspection or copying of
public records. 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) Beginning January 1, 2016, once a state agency has determined
that a request is for a disclosable public record in the possession
of the state agency pursuant to subdivision (c), the state agency
shall provide the requested public record as soon as possible and no
later than 30 days of determining that a record is disclosable.
(f) 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.
SEC. 2. Section 6253.9 of the Government Code
is amended to read:
6253.9. (a) Unless otherwise prohibited by law, any agency that
has information that constitutes an identifiable public record not
exempt from disclosure pursuant to this chapter that is in an
electronic format shall make that information available in an
electronic format when requested by any person and, when applicable,
shall comply with the following:
(1) The agency shall make the information available in any
electronic format in which it holds the information.
(2) Each agency shall provide a copy of an electronic record in
the format requested if the requested format is one that has been
used by the agency to create copies for its own use or for provision
to other agencies. The cost of duplication shall be limited to the
direct cost of producing a copy of a record in an electronic format.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), the
requester shall bear the cost of producing a copy of the record,
including the cost to construct a record, and the cost of programming
and computer services necessary to produce a copy of the record when
either of the following applies:
(1) In order to comply with the provisions of subdivision (a), the
public agency would be required to produce a copy of an electronic
record and the record is one that is produced only at otherwise
regularly scheduled intervals.
(2) The request would require data compilation, extraction, or
programming to produce the record.
(c) Except as may be required by subdivision (h), this section
shall not be construed to require the public agency to reconstruct a
record in an electronic format if the agency no longer has the record
available in an electronic format.
(d) If the request is for information in other than electronic
format, and the information also is in electronic format, the agency
may inform the requester that the information is available in
electronic format.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit an agency
to make information available only in an electronic format.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the
public agency to release an electronic record in the electronic form
in which it is held by the agency if its release would jeopardize or
compromise the security or integrity of the original record or of any
proprietary software in which it is maintained.
(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit public
access to records held by any agency to which access is otherwise
restricted by statute.
(h) A state agency shall provide an electronic copy of a public
record when the public record is made available in response to a
request. This subdivision shall only apply to a public record created
on or after January 1, 2016.
SEC. 3. SEC. 2. Section 7550.7 is
added to the Government Code, to read:
7550.7. (a) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, a written report
submitted to the Legislature, a Member of the Legislature, or any
state legislative or executive body by any state agency or department
shall include a signed statement by the head of that agency or
department declaring that the factual contents of the report are
true, accurate, and complete to the best of his or her knowledge.
(2) With respect to the Franchise Tax Board, the signed statement
described in paragraph (1) shall be made by the executive officer of
that board, and with respect to the State Board of Equalization, the
statement shall be made by the executive director of that board.
(b) Paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall apply to the head of
every state agency or department, including, but not limited to,
elected officials of state government, and any state official whose
duties are prescribed by the California Constitution.
(c) For purposes of this section, a "written report" is either of
the following:
(1) A document required by statute to be prepared and submitted to
the Legislature, or any state legislative or executive body.
(2) A document, summary, or statement requested by a Member of the
Legislature.
(d) The declaration in the signed statement as to the truth,
accuracy, and completeness of the factual contents of the written
report shall not apply to any forecasts, predictions,
recommendations, or opinions contained in the written report.
(e) Any person who declares as true any material matter pursuant
to this section that he or she knows to be false shall be liable for
a civil penalty not to exceed twenty thousand dollars ($20,000). The
civil penalties provided for in this section shall be exclusively
assessed and recovered in a civil action brought in the name of the
people of the State of California in any court of competent
jurisdiction by the Attorney General.