Asm. Mark Leno: “Let the Sunshine In”

SACRAMENTO— As National Sunshine Week approaches March 11-17, 2007, Assemblyman Mark Leno, (D-San Francisco) who has worked extensively to maintain and preserve the integrity of the California Public Records Act, announced today he is authoring three bills aimed at making government more accessible to the public. AB 1393 would simplify the process for obtaining public records from state agencies, AB 1648 statutorily reverses policies upheld by the California Supreme Court in Copley Press v. San Diego that limits public access to police disciplinary hearings and records, and AB 1668 would require state agencies to use a flexible, open file format for all electronic government documents.

“The California Public Records Act has been our citizens’ best tool in staying informed about what their government is doing,” said Assemblyman Mark Leno whose has previously authored bills giving reporters greater access to prisons and providing more disclosure to voters before they endorse initiative campaigns. “It is the duty of every public servant to carry out the spirit and letter of this important sunshine law.”

AB 1393 is a re-introduction of a bill inspired by an audit by Californians Aware that found that most state agencies were not complying with the California Public Records Act in requests for public records. The bill would simplify the process for the public to access public records, and at the same time eliminate the need to complete repetitive requests from multiple sources for the same record. It would require state agencies to have a Public Information Center portal on their websites that would facilitate public requests for documents and explain the process of accessing records.

AB 1648 would allow police commissions throughout the state to resume conducting their hearings in public, as was the case prior to the August 29, 2006 California Supreme Court’s decision in Copley Press v. San Diego. This decision maintained that the public has no right to access discipline records of officers because they are private personnel records that are held by the officer’s employing agency. In addition to allowing the hearings to be open to the public, AB 1648 would give the public access to the name of the disciplined officer, the complaint, the hearing’s findings and the discipline that resulted from the hearing in sustained misconduct cases.

Finally, AB 1668 would establish a standard in California to preserve unfettered access and use of electronic documents created by California State Agencies. Today, many documents exist in a format that restricts their use by the State and the public, because of their proprietary structure. By making file formats “open,” any software developer may incorporate the file format into their software and help reduce barriers to accessing these files in the future.

The bills will be heard in committee next month.
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