A bill winding its way through the California Legislature could make it harder for residents and others to obtain public records, a free speech group said on Tuesday.
The bill in question is focused on the California Public Records Act, which gives members of the public the fundamental right to access and inspect records held by state and local government agencies.
If approved, the First Amendment Coalition nonprofit said, Assembly Bill 1821 would allow government agencies to sue members of the public if the agency determines requests for information were made with “malicious intent.”
The bill does not define what would constitute “malicious intent,” said David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition.
But, Snyder said, “This bill would allow the government to sue people for submitting records requests. I think it would allow government officials to go after people they don’t like and not only bring their records request to a halt, but require them to hire lawyers to defend their request for public records.”
The proposal allows additional costs that people requesting public information would have to pay to the government agency, including fees to cover search and review time to fulfill the request. That would include administrative fees of $22.35 per hour and a professional fee of $66.26 per hour, the proposed legislation said.
The bill would also permit agencies to find out who’s asking for the information and why, which Snyder said “would have a great chilling effect on people’s willingness to request records. When they ask about why you want these records, how can you be sure that the government agency or the government official who’s making the decision isn’t going to simply going to deny the request because they disagree with your approach, your politics, with you?”
The coalition said the proposal would give public agencies more time to respond to records requests, to 10 business days compared to the current 10 calendar days, including weekends. That move would also “frustrate public access to information.”
Currently, almost any documents and other material relating to public business is subject to disclosure unless specifically exempted by law, according to the California Secretary of State.
AB 1821 was sponsored by California Assembly Member Blanca Pacheco of the 64th District in the Los Angeles area.
How Redding dealt with Shasta County public records ordinance
The public records request controversy already played out in Redding.
In 2023, a Shasta County Superior Court judge ruled that the county could not charge the Record Searchlight a fee to search for documents the newspaper had requested. In that case, the judge also ordered the county to turn over documents related to an investigation into management of the sheriff’s office.
Until the judge’s ruling, the county had refused to hand over the records, citing privacy issues and attorney-client privilege.
The same year, Siskiyou County repealed a public records fee ordinance of $50 an hour to research, locate and redact requested documents. The following year, in 2024, Shasta County agreed to rescind its ordinance charging $25 an hour for similar tasks.
The California Supreme Court confirmed in 2020 that fees for ancillary costs like searching for and redacting records create an illegal financial barrier to transparency and accountability in government, the First Amendment Coalition and ACLU of Northern California noted after Shasta County’s move to stop charging people for public records searches.
Michele Chandler covers public safety, reports on major trials happening in Shasta County Superior Court, writes about restaurants and handles whatever else comes up for the Redding Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. Accepts story tips at 530-338-7753 and at mrchandler@gannett.com. Please support our entire newsroom’s commitment to public service journalism by subscribing today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: California bill could restrict people from accessing public records
Reporting by Michele Chandler, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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By Michele Chandler, Redding Record Searchlight | USA TODAY Network
