Public officials: personal information.

(1) Existing law prohibits a person, business, or association from publicly posting or publicly displaying on the Internet the home address or telephone number of any elected or appointed official if that official has made a written demand of that person, business, or association to not disclose his or her home address or telephone number. Upon receiving a written demand, a person, business, or association is prohibited from transferring the official's information to any other person, business, or association. Existing law also prohibits soliciting, selling, or trading on the Internet the home address or telephone number of an elected or appointed official with the intent to cause bodily harm to the official or to any person residing at the official's home address. Existing law provides various remedies for violation of these provisions. This bill would require a person, business, or association, upon receiving the written demand of an elected or appointed official, to remove the official's home address or telephone number from public display on the Internet within 48 hours of the delivery of the demand, and to continue to ensure that information is not reposted on the same Internet Web site, a subsidiary site, or any other Internet Web site maintained by the recipient of the written demand. The bill would specifically exempt a telephone corporation, as defined, from the prohibition on transferring a public official's home address or telephone number after receipt of a written demand if the transfer is necessary in the event of an emergency, to collect a debt owed to the telephone corporation or its affiliate, or as otherwise authorized by state or federal law. The bill would allow an elected or appointed official to designate the official's employer, a related governmental entity, or any voluntary professional association of similar officials to act, on behalf of that official, as that official's agent with regard to making a written demand or seeking enforcement of these posting requirements. A written demand made by an official's agent would be required to include a statement describing a threat or fear for the official's safety or the safety of those residing in the official's home. (2) Under existing law, a public official is authorized to petition a court for injunctive or declarative relief if his or her home address and telephone number are publicly posted despite a written demand, and the court is empowered to grant official court costs and reasonable attorney's fees for the action. This bill would authorize a court to also impose a fine not exceeding $1,000 for violation of an order for an injunction or declarative relief.