Open Government

Guidelines for Public Access to Records Maintained by State Treasurer's Office

Guidelines for Access to Public Records: California Public Records Act (Government Code section 6250, et seq.)

Public records in the possession of the State Treasurer’s Office (STO) and the boards, authorities, and commissions chaired by the State Treasurer which are not exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Public Records Act shall be available for inspection, and copies of such public records shall be provided, pursuant to these guidelines. These guidelines are also posted in all STO offices and apply to the STO and the boards, authorities and commissions chaired by the State Treasurer.

The STO will make a copy of these guidelines available upon request without cost.

Requesting Inspection or Copies of Public Records

Requests should be sufficiently specific and focused to enable identification, location and retrieval of the public records sought. The law does not require requests to be in writing, but the STO recommends that requests be submitted in writing to help staff understand what records are being sought . Requests that are not made in writing will not be rejected. If a request is not specific, STO staff will help the requester identify the public records that are responsive to the request.

The STO does not supplement responses to previous requests when new records are created or received. A separate request must be submitted each time records are sought. The STO also does not hold open requests in anticipation of the creation of records that are not in existence at the time the request is submitted.

Public Records Exempt from Disclosure

The STO may opt to not disclose records which are exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Public Records Act (see, for example, Government Code sections 6254 and 6255).

Inspecting Public Records at STO

Public records in the possession of the STO which are not exempt from mandatory disclosure shall be available for inspection during the normal business hours of the STO (8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday). If the request seeks inspection of numerous records, a mutually agreeable time shall be established for the inspection. The STO reserves the right to review the documents prior to the inspection to ensure that confidential and exempt documents are not included.

The STO functions will not be disrupted to permit inspection of records, and records will not be available for inspection if, at the time the request is made, STO personnel require the records to perform their official duties. Records will not be removed from the possession of the STO. A STO employee will be present during the inspection of records to prevent the loss or destruction of records.

Obtaining Copies of Public Records

STO will determine within 10 days of receipt of a records request the extent to which it will disclose any records pursuant to the request. The STO will promptly notify the person making the request of its determination. The STO will provide disclosable records at the cost of 10 cents per page for duplication plus applicable postage costs. The charges may be waived for any request that is for less than 50 pages. Payment of any applicable charges must be received before the copies are made and provided. The STO does not accept payment of estimated duplication costs at the time a request is submitted.

Obtaining Public Records in Electronic Format

If a request seeks public records in an electronic format, the STO will provide those public records that are not exempt from mandatory disclosure in an electronic format if the STO has them in that format at the time the request is received.