With Halloween approaching, public agencies may face something more daunting than ghosts and goblins: a California Public Records Act (“CPRA”) request seeking years of emails, text messages, and other records from multiple departments.
Broad CPRA requests can require significant staff time to locate records, review potentially exempt information, and prepare documents for production. Below are five considerations for agencies responding to particularly large or complex requests.
1. Organize the Search Before It Becomes a Nightmare
Under Government Code section 7922.530, public agencies must make disclosable records available when a request reasonably describes identifiable records. However, agencies are not required to undertake extraordinarily extensive or intrusive searches. (City of San Jose v. Superior Court (2017) 2 Cal.5th 608, 627.)
Agencies should identify the employees, departments, and electronic systems most likely to contain responsive records before beginning their search. Providing clear search instructions and coordinating with information technology personnel can help avoid duplicative work.
2. Don’t Let Deadlines Haunt You
Under current law, Government Code section 7922.535 generally requires agencies to determine whether a request seeks disclosable public records and notify the requester within 10 calendar days of receiving the request. In unusual circumstances, including when an agency must search for and examine a voluminous amount of records, the agency may extend this deadline by up to 14 additional calendar days through written notice.
Beginning January 1, 2027, Assembly Bill 1821 (AB 1821) changes these deadlines from calendar days to business days. Agencies will have 10 business days to make their initial determination, with an extension of up to 14 additional business days in unusual circumstances.
These deadlines apply to the agency’s initial determination, not the production of all responsive records. Agencies must still promptly make disclosable records available and provide an estimated date and time for production.
Agencies should calendar the initial determination deadline upon receiving a request, along with any extension deadline and anticipated production dates. For large requests, agencies should also establish internal deadlines for collecting and reviewing records.
3. Don’t Go Searching for Ghost Records
The CPRA generally does not require agencies to create new records or analyses. However, agencies may be required to extract or compile existing electronic data. (Gov. Code, §§ 7922.570, 7922.575.)
Before concluding that no responsive records exist, agencies should check whether the requested information is available in an existing database or another format.
4. Review Records for Exemptions and Redactions
After locating responsive records, agencies must determine whether they contain information exempt from disclosure, such as protected personnel or medical information or attorney-client privileged communications.
Under Government Code section 7922.525, agencies generally must disclose reasonably segregable, nonexempt portions of records after redacting exempt information.
Agencies should account for the time needed to review and redact records when establishing production schedules. For particularly large requests, agencies may consider producing records in installments as they complete their review.
5. Don’t Ghost the Requester
Under Government Code section 7922.600, agencies must, to the extent reasonable, assist requesters in making focused and effective requests. This may include helping identify responsive records or clarifying the records sought.
For example, if a request seeks ten years of communications, an agency may ask whether the requester is interested in specific decisions, departments, or time periods. Although agencies cannot require requesters to narrow otherwise valid requests, clarification may help streamline production.
Agencies should also communicate anticipated production dates and provide updates when necessary.
Final Considerations
Even a broad CPRA request does not have to become a Halloween nightmare. By coordinating records searches, calendaring deadlines, reviewing exemptions, and communicating with requesters, public agencies can manage complex requests while complying with their obligations under the CPRA.