Most states in the American Constitutional Union of fifty, have a statute on their books which assures the public, access to public records. In California, this law which is Government Code section 6250-6276.48 has been poorly understood by state officials, with an annual survey showing rampant violations of the law by local, county and state officials. Perhaps it is a good time to review the provisions of this law.
I want to draw a distinction between government and state, well as between various "levels" of each, in order to ensure that we have a reasonable basis of understanding.
The first thing to define is "state". While Americans rarely draw a distinction between state and government, such differentiation is common in Europe. When Margaret Thatcher's government falls in the U.K., she is replaced as Prime Minister, or the head of the government. If she desired to attend a State Dinner in Washington with the American President, she is not seated as a Head of State, because that is the Queen. Thatcher, the Prime Minister, is not a head of state, but rather (again), a head of government.
One way to remember the difference is to remember that the American President (i.e. Carter, Regan, Bush, Clinton, Bush two, Obama) are elected ever four years to lead a government, just like the various governors of the varoius 50 American States. However, the underlying bureaucracy remains in place. The CIA, FBI, IRS, State Department, NASA, and all the many other offices of state remain in place regardless of which governing administration comes into power by the will of the electorate.
Secondly, the difference between Federal and State (with a capital "S", meaning one of the 50 named States of the American union), must be understood. Many confuse "State" and "state" because the same letters, spelled out in the same sequence and pronounced the same way can be difficult to disambiguate. The capital "S", as noted above, makes the distinction. "state" is merely a generic term for bureaucracy that is controlled (i.e. "governed") by a government. "State", also in repetition, is the word that describes California, Hawaii, Alaska, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, South Dakota, Utah, and 42 other big-ticket places which elect their own "Governors" to administratively govern the bureaucracy (i.e. the State's "state").
In this regard, the Public Records Acts to which I refer do not affect matters of the Federal bureaucracy nor the Federal government, as they are State laws. They do affect the various States in which they operate. The Counties and municipalities of each State are also affected, with a few exceptions. Naturally, an interesting jurisdictional exception would be the Townships, common in States like Michigan. The Township is an incorporated muncipal entity, but unlike other towns which are incorporated under their respective State, the Township is a Federally incoporated entity and is more akin to a Federal Territory like Puerto Rico, or a Federal District as in the District of Columbia.
In any case, because Public Records acts, unlike certain other standardized statutes (Uniform State Laws like the Uniform Commercial Cofe, Uniform Probate Code, etc...) are not the same from State to State, I will address the provisions in noted California Governemnt Code, and leave it to the reader to condct a simple Google search in order to locate others pertinent to their specific needs.
To invoke the California Public Records Act is to call for civil rights which are proscribed under civil law. Nobody will do this for you; it is the responsibility of each member of the public to stand forth to exercise and assert their rights under a civil law. A copy of the law, obtainable for free off the internet, can be useful in this process, so print one out at home or at a local library if you are not able to otherwise.
The California Public Records Act does exempt some agencies and groups from disclosure, so read it to understand your civil rights.
These civil rights are based on a law written out and voted on by some governing body, whether the electorate at the polls or a State's legislature, and while it may be based on concepts of fairness and justice, this is not always the case. Democratically elected civil governments have taken power away from their constitutents in the past, with perhaps the most extreme example in recent history being that of Nazi Germany. In the case of this civil right, better called a "civil privilege" in the eyes of some, the California Public Records Act and similar acts can hardly be considered to be a draconian revocation of rights, but is rather clearly an expansion of open governance laws designed to empower the people.
With all this in mind (probably swirling in your head like chunky soup by now), walk boldly into some random government office with a print copy and demand to see their records! Quick, quick, no delays or excuses! You need to see records!!
Ok, well, that's obviously not the case for most people, but for those in the research, abstracting, title, escrow, real estate, private investigation, and legal fields, this is probably not far from the truth. The next business day after this will surely bring new challenges, which open access to public records may alleviate.
The Archival Department of your State's Secretary of State Office, or its equivalent, can provide a copy of the same law with the stamp and seal of your state embossed thereupon, making your copy of the law very official and hence more likely to be honored should an agency attempt to deny access to records.
Our firm maintains credentialled journalists on staff with official press badges. On any research assignment, we send our staff journalists out with a State-certified copy of the California Public Records Act, a letter of assignment from our agency addressed directly to the elected official in charge of a government department, and contact information to our CEO and Administrators in order to ensure that our clients are being properly served (i.e. not overcharged for unnecessary services) whenever we need to access Election / Voter Records or county Vital Records (birth, death, marriage).
Mind you, this is not an illegal evasion of the law, as our firm maintains many blogs that we publish reports on regularly. Each and every time we engage in this process, it is part of an ongoing investigation into the access to public records under the law; results which we are always willing to report on publically. We never reveal proprietary client names or other customer information, but we reserve the right to address the reporting research concerns to the public.
The lesson for the day: Public Records, paid for by everyone's tax dollar, are often sequestered behind closed office doors with uneducated secretaries at front desks who will tell you "no" without understanding the underlying legal issues involved. Research, Read, Learn, Know, Assert, Exercise and Enforce your civil rights, since nobody will do it for you AND bureaucrats will deny such priviliges otherwise.