California Public Records Act: agency response time.

Full Bill Text

Amended IN Senate June 25, 2026 Amended IN Senate June 10, 2026 Amended IN Assembly April 06, 2026 Amended IN Assembly March 16, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 1821 Introduced by Assembly Member Pacheco February 11, 2026 An act to amend Sections 7922.530 and Section 7922.535 of the Government Code, relating to public records. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1821, as amended, Pacheco. California Public Records Act: methods of submission, fees, and agency response time. Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires each state or local agency, upon a request for a copy of records that reasonably describes an identifiable record or records, to make the records promptly available to any person upon payment of fees covering direct costs of duplication, or a statutory fee if applicable, except with respect to public records exempt from disclosure by express provisions of law. This bill would require an agency to designate a physical office location and a specified email address for the submission of requests, and authorize an agency to designate other reasonable methods for the submission of requests, including submission to a physical mailing address, subject to certain requirements, including that the agency accept upon receipt any request that is submitted at the designated physical office location or through the designated email address during the agency’s normal business hours. If an agency designates any method for the submission of requests, the bill would deem a request as properly requested for purposes of specified provisions only if the request was submitted through a method of submission that was designated by the agency. If the agency finds that a request was not submitted through a method of submission that was designated by the agency, the bill would deem the request as not properly requested at the time of submission and not subject to specified timelines otherwise applicable to the request had it been properly requested, except as specified. The bill would require an agency to provide notice to the public of any updates or changes to any method for the submission of requests designated by the agency by posting the updates or changes on its internet website. If an agency determines that a request is a commercial use request, as defined, the bill would require a requester to submit to the agency, in addition to any other applicable fees, a payment of fees to cover the search and review time, as defined, for the request. The bill would exempt from that fee requirement any request made by an educational or noncommercial scientific institution, as specified, a government agency, and a representative of the news media, as defined. The bill would authorize an agency to petition the superior court for a determination that a requester submitted a request with malicious intent, as specified. If the court determines that the request was submitted with malicious intent, the bill would authorize the agency to impose on the requester, in addition to any other applicable fees, a payment of fees to cover the search and review time for the request. The bill would suspend an agency’s duty to respond to a request during the pendency of any court proceeding under that provision. The bill would specify that the payment of fees by a requester to cover the search and review time for a request for these purposes includes an administrative fee and a professional fee, as specified. Existing law requires each agency, within 10 days of a request for a copy of records, to determine whether the request seeks copies of disclosable public records in possession of the agency and to promptly notify the person of the determination and the reasons therefor. Existing law authorizes that time limit to be extended by no more than 14 days under unusual circumstances, as defined. This bill would instead require each agency to determine whether the request seeks copies of disclosable public records in possession of the agency and to promptly notify the person as described above within 10 business days of a request for a copy of records. The bill would instead authorize the time period for each agency to respond to be extended by no more than 14 business days. 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 the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 7922.530 of the Government Code is amended to read: 7922.530. (a) (1) Except with respect to public records exempt from disclosure by express provisions of law, 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 and any fees to cover the search and review time for a request described in paragraph (3), or a statutory fee if applicable. Upon request, an exact copy shall be provided unless impracticable to do so. (2) (A) An agency shall designate a physical office location and a specified email address for the submission of requests, and may designate other reasonable methods for the submission of requests, including, but not limited to, submission to a specified physical mailing address or through a specified online portal, subject to both of the following requirements: (i) The agency shall accept upon receipt any request that is submitted in person at the designated physical office location or through the designated email address during the agency’s normal business hours. (ii) An agency shall make any method of submission that was designated by the agency clearly available on its internet website. (B) (i) If an agency designates any method for the submission of requests, a request shall be deemed as properly requested for purposes of this chapter only if the request was submitted through a method of submission that was designated by the agency. (ii) If the agency finds that a request was not submitted through a method of submission that was designated by the agency, the request shall not be deemed as properly requested at the time of submission and shall not be subject to any timelines under this chapter otherwise applicable to the request had it been properly requested. This clause shall not apply if the agency had a reasonable basis to be aware of the request. (C) An agency shall provide notice to the public of any updates or changes to any method for the submission of requests designated by the agency by posting the updates or changes on its internet website. (3) (A) (i) If an agency determines that a request is a commercial use request, the requester shall submit to the agency, in addition to any other applicable fees, a payment of fees to cover cost of the search and review time for the request. (ii) Clause (i) shall not apply to any request made by any of the following: (I) An educational or noncommercial scientific institution whose purpose is scholarly or scientific research. (II) A government agency. (III) A representative of the news media. (B) An agency may petition the superior court for a determination that a requester submitted a request with malicious intent, including for the purpose of delaying the agency. If the court determines that the request was submitted with malicious intent, the agency may impose on the requester, in addition to any other applicable fees, a payment of fees to cover the search and review time for the request. The agency’s duty to respond to the request shall be suspended during the pendency of any court proceedings under this subparagraph. (C) The payment of fees by a requester to cover the search and review time for a request pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall be as follows: (i) The payment of fees shall include both of the following fees: (I) An administrative fee in the amount of twenty-two dollars and thirty-five cents ($22.35) per hour, which may be increased by a cost-of-living adjustment. (II) A professional fee in the amount of sixty-six dollars and twenty-six cents ($66.26) per hour, which may be increased by a cost-of-living adjustment. (ii) For purposes of clause (i), both of the following shall apply: (I) Any charges that are for less than a full hour shall be billed in quarter-hour segments. (II) The United States city average of the “Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers,” as published by the United States Bureau of Statistics, shall be used as the basis for determining changes in the cost of living. (D) For purposes of this paragraph, all of the following definitions apply: (i) “Commercial use request” means a request from or on behalf of a person who seeks information for a use or purpose that furthers the commercial, trade, or profit interests of the requester or the person on whose behalf the request is made. In determining whether a requester properly belongs in this category, the agency may ask the requester to provide information regarding the use to which a requester will put the documents requested. If the requester does not promptly provide this information, the agency may infer that the records have been requested for commercial use. When the agency has reasonable cause to doubt the requester’s stated use of the records sought, or where the use is not clear from the request itself, the agency will seek additional clarification before assigning the request to a category. (ii) “Representative of the news media” means a person who regularly gathers, prepares, collects, photographs, records, writes, edits, reports, or publishes news or information that concerns local, national, or international events or other matters of public interest for dissemination to the public for a substantial portion of the person’s livelihood or for substantial financial gain. (iii) “Search and review time” means the actual time spent identifying and locating records, including material within documents, responsive to a request, determining whether any portions are exempt from disclosure, and performing all tasks necessary to prepare the records for disclosure, including redacting portions exempt from disclosure. (b) A requester who inspects a disclosable record on the premises of the agency has the right to use the requester’s equipment on those premises, without being charged any fees or costs, to photograph or otherwise copy or reproduce the record in a manner that does not require the equipment to make physical contact with the record, unless the means of copy or reproduction would result in either of the following: (1) Damage to the record. (2) Unauthorized access to the agency’s computer systems or secured networks by using software, equipment, or any other technology capable of accessing, altering, or compromising the agency’s electronic records. (c) The agency may impose any reasonable limits on the use of the requester’s equipment that are necessary to protect the safety of the records or to prevent the copying of records from being an unreasonable burden to the orderly function of the agency and its employees. In addition, the agency may impose any limit that is necessary to maintain the integrity of, or ensure the long-term preservation of, historic or high-value records. SEC. 2. SECTION 1. Section 7922.535 of the Government Code is amended to read: 7922.535. (a) Each agency, upon a request for a copy of records, shall, within 10 business 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. If the agency determines that the request seeks disclosable public records, the agency shall also state the estimated date and time when the records will be made available. (b) In unusual circumstances, the time limit prescribed in this article and Article 1 (commencing with Section 7922.500) may be extended by written notice from the head of the agency or a 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. The notice shall not specify a date that would result in an extension for more than 14 business days. (c) 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. (5) The inability of the agency, because of a cyberattack, to access its electronic servers or systems in order to search for and obtain a record that the agency believes is responsive to a request and is maintained on the servers or systems in an electronic format. (A) This paragraph does not relieve the agency of its obligation to comply with subdivision (a) when the requested record is maintained in a location other than on the electronic server or system affected by the cyberattack, or maintained in a nonelectronic format. (B) This paragraph applies only until the agency regains its ability to access its electronic servers or systems and search for and obtain electronic records that may be responsive to a request. (6) The need to search for, collect, and appropriately examine records during a state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor in the jurisdiction where the agency is located when the state of emergency currently and directly affects, due to the state of emergency, the agency’s ability to timely respond to requests due to staffing shortages or closure of facilities where the requested records are located. (A) This paragraph shall not apply to a request for records created during and related to the state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor. (B) For purposes of this paragraph, “state of emergency” means a state of emergency proclaimed pursuant to Section 8625 of the California Emergency Services Act (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 8550) of Division 1 of Title 2). SEC. 3. SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of this act, which amends Section 7922.530 of the Government Code, and Section 2 of this act, which amends Section 7922.535 of the Government Code, further, furthers, within the meaning of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution, the purposes of that constitutional section as it relates to the right of public access to the meetings of local public bodies or the writings of local public officials and local agencies. Pursuant to paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution, the Legislature makes the following findings: This act balances the right of the public to access public records in a timely manner while providing public agencies the ability to designate methods to receive, obtain proper compensation for, and sufficient time to respond to, public record requests. acknowledging that state and local agencies provide a variety of public services and may need additional time to properly respond to requests. SEC. 4. SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of this act, which amends Section 7922.530 of the Government Code, and Section 2 of this act, which amends Section 7922.535 of the Government Code, impose imposes a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest: This act balances the right of the public to access public records in a timely manner while providing public agencies the ability to designate methods to receive, obtain proper compensation for, and sufficient time to respond to, public record requests. acknowledging that state and local agencies provide a variety of public services and may need additional time to properly respond to requests.