FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION  TEXT OF THE LAW  – CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RECORDS ACT

 GOVERNMENT CODE  SECTION 6250-6270

6250.  In enacting this chapter, the Legislature, mindful of the
right of individuals to privacy, finds and declares that access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state.

6253. (c) Each agency, upon a request for a copy of records, shall,
within 10 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. In unusual circumstances, the time limit prescribed in this
section may be extended by written notice by the head of the agency
or his or her 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. No notice shall specify a
date that would result in an extension for more than 14 days. When
the agency dispatches the determination, and if the agency determines
that the request seeks disclosable public records, the agency shall
state the estimated date and time when the records will be made
available. 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.
   (d) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to permit an agency
to delay or obstruct the inspection or copying of public records.
The notification of denial of any request for records required by
Section 6255 shall set forth the names and titles or positions of
each person responsible for the denial.
   (e) Except as otherwise prohibited by law, a state or local agency
may adopt requirements for itself that allow for faster, more
efficient, or greater access to records than prescribed by the
minimum standards set forth in this chapter.