Amended in Assembly September 2, 2015

Amended in Assembly August 17, 2015

Amended in Assembly July 6, 2015

Amended in Assembly June 25, 2015

Amended in Senate April 6, 2015

Senate BillNo. 272


Introduced by Senator Hertzberg

(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Maienschein)

February 19, 2015


An act to add Section 6270.5 to the Government Code, relating to public records.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 272, as amended, Hertzberg. The California Public Records Act: local agencies: inventory.

Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires state and local agencies to make their records available for public inspection, unless an exemption from disclosure applies. The act declares that access to information concerning the conduct of the people’s business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state.

This bill would require each local agency, except a local educational agency, in implementing the California Public Records Act, to create a catalog of enterprise systems, as defined, to make the catalog publicly available upon request in the office of the person or officer designated by the agency’s legislative body, and to post the catalog on the local agency’s Internet Web site. The bill would require the catalog to disclose a list of the enterprise systems utilized by the agency, and, among other things, the current system vendor andbegin delete product.end deletebegin insert product, unless, on the facts of the particular case, the public interest served by not disclosing that information clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure, in which case the local agency may instead provide a system name, brief title, or identifier of the system.end insert Because the bill would require local agencies to perform additional duties, it would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers this purpose.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

begin insert

Existing constitutional provisions require a statute that limits the right of public access to meetings or writings of public officials to be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest to be protected by that limitation and the need to protect that interest.

end insert
begin insert

This bill would declare that it includes limitations on access, that the interest to be protected is the security of enterprise systems in public agencies, and that the need to protect that interest is that enterprise systems can contain information that, if released to the public, could result in negative consequences.

end insert

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:

3(a) New information technology has dramatically changed the
4way people search for and expect to find information in California.

5(b) This technology has unlocked great potential for government
6to better serve the people it represents. A recent study estimated
7that digitizing government data could generate one trillion dollars
P3    1in economic value worldwide through cost savings and improved
2operational performance.

3(c) California plays a vitally important role in moving our nation
4forward in the world of technology. Just as the state’s thriving tech
5industry surges ahead in setting new standards for society, so too
6must California.

7(d) As several nations, states, and cities have begun to embrace
8policies of online access to public sector data, they have enjoyed
9the benefits of increased operational efficiency and better
10collaboration. Here in California, cities across the state are turning
11internally gathered and maintained data into usable information
12for the public to access and leverage for the benefit of their
13communities.

14(e) In moving government to a more effective digital future,
15standards should be adopted to ensure that data collection and
16publication are standardized, including uniform definitions for
17machine-readable data. Online portals should also be developed
18to assist with public access to collected data.

19(f) With a public sector committed to success in the digital age,
20the residents and businesses of California will stand to benefit
21from the greater collaboration and integration, improved
22accountability, and increased productivity that will result.

23(g) In making California government more accessible to the
24people of the state, paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section 3
25of Article I of the California Constitution requires local
26governments to comply with the California Public Records Act
27and with any subsequent statutory enactment amending that act
28and furthering that purpose.

29

SEC. 2.  

Section 6270.5 is added to the Government Code, to
30read:

31

6270.5.  

(a) In implementing this chapter, each local agency,
32except a local educational agency, shall create a catalog of
33enterprise systems. The catalog shall be made publicly available
34upon request in the office of the person or officer designated by
35the agency’s legislative body. The catalog shall be posted in a
36prominent location on the local agency’s Internet Web site, if the
37agency has an Internet Web site. The catalog shall disclose a list
38of the enterprise systems utilized by the agency and, for each
39system, shall also disclose all of the following:

40(1) Current system vendor.

P4    1(2) Current system product.

2(3) A brief statement of the system’s purpose.

3(4) A general description of categories or types of data.

4(5) The department that serves as the system’s primary
5custodian.

6(6) How frequently system data is collected.

7(7) How frequently system data is updated.

8(b) This section shall not be interpreted to limit a person’s right
9to inspect public records pursuant to this chapter.

10(c) For purposes of this section:

11(1) “Enterprise system” means a software application or
12computer system that collects, stores, exchanges, and analyzes
13information that the agency uses that is both of the following:

14(A) A multidepartmental system or a system that contains
15information collected about the public.

16(B) A system of record.

17(2) “System of record” means a system that serves as an original
18source of data within an agency.

19(3) An enterprise system shall not include any of the following:

20(A) Information technology security systems, including firewalls
21and other cybersecurity systems.

22(B) Physical access control systems, employee identification
23management systems, video monitoring, and other physical control
24systems.

25(C) Infrastructure and mechanical control systems, including
26those that control or manage street lights,begin insert electrical, natural gas,end insert
27 or water or sewer functions.

28(D) Systems related to 911 dispatch and operation or emergency
29services.

30(E) Systems that would be restricted from disclosure pursuant
31to Section 6254.19.

32(F) The specific records that the information technology system
33collects, stores, exchanges, or analyzes.

34(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit public
35access to records held by an agency to which access is otherwise
36restricted by statute or to alter the process for requesting public
37records, as set forth in this chapter.

begin insert

38(e) If, on the facts of the particular case, the public interest
39served by not disclosing the information described in paragraph
40(1) or (2) of subdivision (a) clearly outweighs the public interest
P5    1served by disclosure of the record, the local agency may instead
2provide a system name, brief title, or identifier of the system.

end insert
begin delete

27 3(e)

end delete

4begin insert(f)end insert The local agency shall complete and post the catalog required
5by this section by July 1, 2016, and thereafter shall update the
6catalog annually.

7

SEC. 3.  

The Legislature finds and declares that Section 2 of
8this act, which adds Section 6270.5 to the Government Code,
9furthers, within the meaning of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b)
10of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution, the purposes
11of that constitutional section as it relates to the right of public
12access to the meetings of local public bodies or the writings of
13local public officials and local agencies. Pursuant to paragraph (7)
14of subdivision (b) of Section 3 of Article I of the California
15Constitution, the Legislature makes the following findings:

16Because increased information about what data is collected by
17local agencies could be leveraged by the public to more efficiently
18access and better use that information, the act furthers the purpose
19of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution.

20begin insert

begin insertSEC. 4.end insert  

end insert

begin insertThe Legislature finds and declares that Section 2 of
21this act limits the public’s right of access to public documents
22within the meaning of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section
233 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to that
24constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following
25findings to demonstrate the interest and the need for protecting
26that interest:end insert

begin insert

27(a) The interest protected by this limitation is the security of
28enterprise systems in public agencies.

end insert
begin insert

29(b) The need for protecting that interest is that enterprise
30systems can contain information that, if released to the public,
31could result in negative consequences.

end insert
32

begin deleteSEC. 4.end delete
33begin insertSEC. 5.end insert  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
34Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
35the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
36district under this act would result from a legislative mandate that
37is within the scope of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section
383 of Article I of the California Constitution.



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