Recovery of public records.

Existing law provides that every officer having the custody of any public record, as specified, filed or deposited in any public office, or placed in his or her hands for any purpose, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 2, 3, or 4 years if the officer willfully steals, removes, destroys, mutilates, defaces, alters, or falsifies the record, or causes another person to do so. Existing law also provides that every person not an officer who is guilty of any of these acts is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison or in a county jail for a period not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or by both. This bill would authorize the Secretary of State, whenever the secretary, in consultation with the State Archivist, has reasonable grounds to believe that a public record belonging to a state or a local agency is in the possession of a person, organization, or institution not authorized by law to possess the record, to issue a written notice demanding that person, organization, or institution within 20 calendar days, either to return the record or respond in writing and declare why the record does not belong to the state or a local agency. The bill would require the secretary or a local agency to issue a copy or digital image of the record, when a record is returned and the person, organization, or institution returning that record makes that request. The bill would also authorize the secretary, if the person, organization, or institution does not deliver the described record, does not respond to the notice and demand within the required time, or does not adequately demonstrate that the record does not belong to the state or a local agency, to ask the Attorney General to petition the superior court in the county in which the record is located for an order requiring the return of the record. The court would be required, after a hearing, and upon a finding that the specified record is in the possession of a person, organization, or institution not authorized by law to possess the record, to order the record to be delivered to the State Archivist or other government official designated by the court, and would be authorized to make the record available for public access pursuant to the California Public Records Act. The bill would provide that the prevailing party may be awarded reasonable attorney's fees and costs in an action brought under these provisions. A local agency would be authorized to request the Secretary of State to act on its behalf under these circumstances and the bill would set forth the criteria pursuant to which the local agency could undertake these procedures on its own behalf. The bill would exempt from these provisions an organization or institution that follows professional practices recommended by the Society of American Archivists for the management, care, and preservation of historical records and that makes records in its possession available for inspection in accordance with disclosure requirements applicable to public agencies.