CA Bill 1821: Balancing Public Access & Agency Resources

California Lawmaker Proposes Bill to Charge for Public Records Requests

A California lawmaker, Blanca Pacheco, has introduced Assembly Bill 1821, which could make it more expensive for individuals to access public records. The bill allows agencies to charge fees for requests that exceed two hours of staff search time or ten hours per month from the same person. However, journalists and certain institutions would be exempt.

The bill aims to address agencies concerns about being overwhelmed by large, time-consuming requests that divert staff from other important tasks. Pacheco cites examples of individuals submitting over one hundred requests, costing cities hundreds of thousands of dollars and potentially taking up to three hundred staff hours.

Transparency advocates, however, argue that the fees could deter everyday people from exercising their right to government information. They point out that the state constitution guarantees access and a 2020 Supreme Court ruling prohibits charging for search time to prevent disclosure blockage.

The bill sets reasonable fees but does not impose a dollar cap, leaving room for high charges. It also extends response deadlines from ten calendar days to ten business days, raising concerns that agencies could delay responses without clear guidelines on what constitutes a reasonable fee.

Pacheco plans to make adjustments to narrow the bills scope, but the debate over balancing agency resources and public access is intensifying in Sacramento.

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