BILL ANALYSIS �
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 :
AB 634
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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