California Public Records Act: agency response time.

The entire amendment to Government Code Section 7922.530 was removed. This section had required agencies to designate physical office locations and email addresses for receiving requests, deemed improperly submitted requests as not subject to statutory timelines, imposed search and review time fees on commercial use requesters (with exemptions for educational institutions, government agencies, and news media), authorized agencies to petition courts to find malicious intent in requests, and set specific hourly fee rates of $22.35 per hour (administrative) and $66.26 per hour (professional).

The bill's stated purpose was narrowed from 'methods of submission, fees, and agency response time' to simply 'agency response time.' The legislative findings were updated to reference only Section 7922.535 rather than both sections, and the justification language was simplified to focus on agencies needing additional time to respond rather than also needing designated submission methods and compensation for search/review work.

Removed a duplicated word in Section 7922.530(a)(1): 'direct costs of duplication, duplication and any fees' corrected to 'direct costs of duplication and any fees.'

Fixed the bill title from 'Section Sections 7922.530 and 7922.535' to 'Sections 7922.530 and Section 7922.535.'

Removed redundant word 'agency' from the legislative counsel's digest: 'agency methods of submission, fees, and agency response time' changed to 'methods of submission, fees, and agency response time.'

Restructured the legislative findings in Sections 3 and 4. The old version had a grammatically disconnected fragment ('providing public agencies the ability...') tacked onto the end of a sentence. The new version integrates that language more smoothly by reordering the clauses after 'while' so the primary purpose (providing agencies tools) comes first, followed by the acknowledgment about agency workload.

Updated the amendment date from June 10, 2026 to June 25, 2026, with the prior date retained in the amendment history.

The fee trigger changed from a time-based threshold (single request over 2 hours or total monthly requests over 10 hours) to a determination that the request is a 'commercial use request,' meaning it furthers the commercial, trade, or profit interests of the requester.

Exemptions from search and review fees were expanded: the Assembly version exempted journalists, newspapers, and educational/noncommercial scientific institutions; the Senate version exempts educational or noncommercial scientific institutions, government agencies, and representatives of the news media (a broader defined category).

Agencies must now designate a physical office location and a specified email address for receiving requests, and may designate other methods (mailing address, online portal). Requests submitted through non-designated methods are not deemed properly requested and do not trigger response timelines, unless the agency had reasonable basis to be aware of the request.

Agencies may petition superior court to determine that a requester submitted a request with malicious intent (including for the purpose of delaying the agency). If the court agrees, the agency may impose search and review time fees. The agency's duty to respond is suspended during the pendency of the court proceeding.

Specific fee rates were set: an administrative fee of $22.35 per hour and a professional fee of $66.26 per hour, both subject to cost-of-living adjustment based on the CPI-U. Charges under one hour are billed in quarter-hour segments.

Three new definitions were added: 'commercial use request' (with a process for agencies to determine category, including ability to infer commercial use if requester does not promptly provide information), 'representative of the news media' (person who regularly gathers, prepares, collects, photographs, records, writes, edits, reports, or publishes news for a substantial portion of livelihood or substantial financial gain), and 'search and review time' (actual time spent identifying, locating, reviewing for exemptions, redacting, and preparing records for disclosure).

The bill's scope expanded from addressing only fees and response times to also covering agency methods of submission for public records requests, as reflected in the updated title and legislative findings.

The bill no longer amends Section 7920.000 of the Government Code, which simply establishes the division's title as the California Public Records Act. This was a nonsubstantive change and its removal reduces the bill from four sections to three.

Both constitutional findings sections (the local agency findings in Section 3 and the general limitation findings in Section 4) now include the phrase 'acknowledging that state and local agencies provide a variety of public services and may need additional time to properly respond to requests.' This strengthens the legislative justification for the response-time provisions by explicitly recognizing agency workload.

The fiscal committee answer was corrected from 'no yes' to 'yes,' indicating the bill does require fiscal committee review.

If a single request exceeds 2 hours of search time, or total requests by one person exceed 10 hours in a month, the requester must pay agency-determined fees covering administrative time. Journalists, newspapers, and educational or noncommercial scientific institutions are exempt.

Defines 'search' as reviewing records manually or by automated means to locate records responsive to a request.

Agency response deadline changed from 10 calendar days to 10 business days, and the maximum extension changed from 14 calendar days to 14 business days.

New 'unusual circumstances' grounds for extending the response deadline: cyberattacks (with carve-outs for records stored elsewhere or in nonelectronic format) and states of emergency proclaimed by the Governor (not applicable to records created during the emergency itself).

Requesters who inspect records on-site have the right to use their own equipment to photograph or copy records without fees, unless it would damage the record or provide unauthorized access to agency computer systems.

Agencies may impose reasonable limits on requester equipment use to protect record safety, prevent unreasonable burden on operations, or preserve historic and high-value records.

Two new sections (3 and 4) add legislative findings required by the California Constitution when a statute limits public access to government writings, stating the act balances timely public access against agency compensation and protection from convoluted requests.