An alarming bill that is advancing in the Legislature would slam the door on Californians seeking public records from public agencies. Assembly Bill 1821, introduced by Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco, D-Downey, sets up a new gauntlet of costly barriers and delays, enabling agencies to play even more games to keep public records secret than some already do.
This news organization had to sue Riverside County when it denied a 2018 request from Press-Enterprise reporter Jeff Horseman for documents related to fraud investigations. The case was settled on favorable terms, but not until two years had passed.
CalMatters had to sue the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority in 2024 when it refused to release “incident reports” of deaths in publicly funded homeless shelters. The Los Angeles Times is fighting in court over the deletion of city officials’ text messages, including those of Mayor Karen Bass during the January 2025 wildfires.
Litigation is expensive and slow, and it shouldn’t be necessary. Improper denials of public records requests violate the state constitution’s guarantee, enshrined by voter approval of Proposition 59 in 2004, that with only limited exceptions, “The people have the right of access to information concerning the conduct of the people’s business, and, therefore, the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies shall be open to public scrutiny.”
Proposition 59 further stated that a law “shall be broadly construed if it furthers the people’s right of access, and narrowly construed if it limits the right of access.”
AB 1821 left the Assembly as a bill that would needlessly lengthen the time period that agencies have to notify public records requestors if there are any documents responsive to their inquiry. And then it got even worse.
As amended in the Senate, an agency would have the power to determine whether a requester was “commercial” or “noncommercial,” a “representative of the news media, as defined” or not, and even whether the requester had “malicious intent.” Requestors not falling into an approved category would be charged an “administrative fee” of $22.35 per hour plus a “professional fee” of $66.26 per hour, both adjusted annually for inflation.
And worse: If an agency decides that a request was submitted “with malicious intent,” the agency can petition the superior court to impose additional fees, while the request is on hold for the duration of those court proceedings.
The bill would even allow agencies to disregard deadlines for requests that were not “submitted through a method of submission that was designated by the agency.” Did you send it through postal mail when the agency’s preference was email? Too bad, no records for you.
The coalition fighting this outrageous bill includes the California News Publishers Association, the First Amendment Coalition, ACLU California Action and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.
AB 1821 is currently in the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Tom Umberg, who represents the Orange County cities of Santa Ana, La Habra, and portions of Anaheim, Garden Grove, Orange, Fullerton, Buena Park, and Placentia, as well as East and South Whittier in Los Angeles County.
Umberg should send AB 1821 to the bottom of the sea. Give him a call at his Capitol office at (916) 651-4034, or his district office in Santa Ana, (714) 558-3785.
Sen. Ben Allen, who is running for insurance commissioner, is a member of the Judiciary Committee. You can call his Capitol office at (916) 651-4024 or his district office at (310) 414-8190.