GUIDE: California Public Records Act (CPRA) Requests

Working Class Unity
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The California Public Records Act (CPRA) is a law that promotes openness, responsibility, and access to information about government activities. It lets people view and inspect records kept by state and local government agencies, although some exceptions apply. Importantly, the CPRA is accessible to everyone, not just “journalists.”

For example, you could use the CPRA to request:

  • SUSD contracts and agreements
  • SUSD budget reports and financial documents
  • SUSD meeting minutes and agendas
  • Public officials’ correspondence on government matters

To help you with your own CPRA request, I link a template below that you can use. Simply copy/paste the contents of the Google Doc into your email, and replace the bolded section with your request.

To: ConstituentServices@stocktonusd.net
Subject: CPRA Request
EMAIL TEMPLATE FOR CPRA REQUESTS TO SUSD

If you have not received a reply by the 10th day, send a follow up email with the following text: I am requesting an update on this CPRA request. Government Code Section 6253(c) requires SUSD to respond within 10 calendar days from receipt of this request.

This 10-day timeframe refers to CALENDAR days, not business days. In some cases, if SUSD requires more time to determine whether the requested records are subject to disclosure, they may extend the response time by an additional 14 calendar days, as stated in Cal. Govt. Code Section 6253(c), but you must be notified and told why within the first 10 days.

Please share your requests and any responses you receive in the replies below (if any). This will help us hold the District accountable in case they fail to respond. Moreover, sharing information obtained from the District publicly fosters transparency and ensures that everyone has access to the same documents.

Future Updates

  • Descriptions of the kinds of information that can be requested
  • Breakdown of the reasons a request can be delayed or denied
  • CPRA contact information for SJCOE
  • Add update about what information can be requested from personal devices and accounts

If you would like to work on items in the Future Updates section, would like to suggest other information, or have any questions, please reply below!

Changelog

  • 2023-04-16 Created post; added email template
  • 2023-04-18 Added note about personal devices and updates
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On 2023-04-14T07:00:00Z, I requested the following information:

All public records in the possession or control of the Stockton Unified School District pertaining to the District-issued credit cards assigned to the following trustees:

  • AngelAnn Flores (from October 2019 through April 2023)
  • Kennetha Stevens (from December 2022 through April 2023)
  • Sofia Colón (from December 2022 through April 2023)
  • Donald Donaire (from December 2022 through April 2023)
  • Cecilia Mendez (from October 2019 through April 2023)
  • Ray Zulueta (from December 2020 through April 2023)
  • Alicia Rico (from December 2020 through April 2023)

For each trustee, please provide the following information:

  • Monthly statements, including those for months with no activity
  • Receipts for all transactions
  • Any supplementary documentation that provides context or justification for the transactions
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On 2023-04-17T07:00:00Z, I requested the following information:

All public records in the possession or control of the Stockton Unified School District pertaining to the District-issued credit cards assigned to the following person(s):

  • Traci E. Miller (from August 2022 through April 2023)

For each person, please provide the following information:

  • Monthly statements, including those for months with no activity
  • Receipts for all transactions
  • Any supplementary documentation that provides context or justification for the transactions
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Last week I sent the following email to all the SUSD trustees requesting the County’s response to the SUSD Second Interim Budget Report. The County nor the District usually make this document public. However, we believe the public should be able to see the County’s response letter as it is the only other expert review of our CBO’s work.

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to you on behalf of FixSUSD. We kindly request a copy of the letter from Mr. Troy Brown of the San Joaquin County Office of Education addressed to SUSD and its Board of Trustees pertaining to the County Office’s review of the 2022-2023 Second Interim Budget.

We firmly believe that making this document available to the public is essential in maintaining a transparent relationship between the SUSD leadership and the community it serves. While we have already submitted a California Public Records Act (CPRA) request, our intention is to provide the public with ample time to examine the document before the upcoming Board Meeting.

If you prefer not to share the letter directly with us, we kindly ask that you consider including it as an agenda item during the next board meeting. Furthermore, we would greatly appreciate it if the Board could invite representatives from the County Office of Education to attend the meeting and present the information contained in the letter in layman’s terms. This will help ensure that the details are accessible to non-budget staff members and the general public alike.

We understand the importance of a collaborative and transparent relationship between the SUSD Board of Trustees, school district staff, and the community. Your assistance in providing access to this crucial document will undoubtedly contribute to fostering trust and open communication.

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and we look forward to your prompt response.

I want to thank Trustee Raymond Zulueta for being the first Trustee to respond and the first one to send us to the document. I also want to thank Trustee AngelAnn Flores for also sending us a copy of the SJCOE response letter.

You can find the documents and a discussion about them at the link below.

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On 2023-04-17T07:00:00Z, we requested the following information:

All communications between Traci E. Miller and the following individuals between June 2022 and April 2023:

  • Joann Juarez
  • Wendi DiSimone
  • Melinda Meza
  • Leticia Burrise
  • Melissa Garibay Ortiz
  • Motecuzoma P. Sanchez

I request all communications made through both official and personal accounts.

Please be advised that in City of San José v. Superior Court, the California Supreme Court ruled that records in personal accounts or devices are subject to the California Public Records Act if the records pertain to public business. This ruling explicitly encompasses “emails and text messages ‘sent or received on private electronic devices’” as well as “other electronic platforms,” which would apply to social media accounts. For personal accounts, I am requesting all communications that relate to the conduct of SUSD’s business and that may affect SUSD’s interests.

Additionally, note that former public employees or officials who were employed or in office during the time period for which the records are requested must comply with the request, even if they are no longer in office or employed by SUSD.

Please ensure that your response to this request demonstrates, in writing, that you are complying with the San Jose ruling and that you have reasonably conducted your search by communicating the CPRA request to former public employees and officials, as necessary.

The bolded sentence is important. Both elected officials and public employees cannot hide their communications on private accounts or devices. We’ll break this down more in a future update.

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I’m late on updates for these recent requests but we finally got information from both.

I was sent this update on 2023-05-02T07:00:00Z: 5.2.23 Initial Response to H Chima CC TM.pdf (138.5 KB)

I was sent this update on 2023-05-02T07:00:00Z:
5.2.23 Initial Response to H Chima CC Board.pdf (149.4 KB)

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The following was requested from Stockton City Council.

All communications between the following names and Stockton City Council (except for Dan Wright):

  • Motecuzoma P. Sanchez
  • Frank Gayaldo
  • Sam Fant
  • Brando Villapudua (communications with this individual before swearing in)
  • Anthony Silva
  • Don Shalvey
  • Fritz Grupe
  • Raymond Zulueta
  • Cecilia Mendez
  • Alicia Rico
  • Jerome Clay
  • Inez Ruiz-Huston
  • Police Chief McFadden
  • Police Captains Jonathan Swain, Larry Lane, Kevin Smith, Kyle Pierce, and Brad Burrell
  • Former Stockton Unified Superintendent John Ramirez Jr.
  • Christina Fugazi
  • Brenda Vasquez
  • RJ Durand
  • Markis Sosa Scrivens
  • Allen Sawyer
  • Ron Freitas
  • Paul Canepa

2023_06_09_Stockton City Council.pdf (17.5 MB)

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We received the following in response to the following requests on 2023-05-19T07:00:00Z. These are credit card spending reports.

AND

5.19.23 Production H Chima CPRA CC.pdf (1021.6 KB)
2019- March 2023 WF CPRA H Chima -Redacted_Redacted.pdf (12.1 MB)

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We received a second batch of updates on 2023-05-24T07:00:00Z. These are credit card spending reports. There is a five file limit for posts, so the last four files will be in the next post.

5.24.23 Chima CPRA #2_Final.pdf (1.1 MB)
A Rico CPRA Chima.pdf (1.5 MB)
C Mendez CPRA Chima.pdf (4.0 MB)
A. Flores CPRA Chima.pdf (248.9 KB)
Kennetha Stevens CPRA Chima.pdf (223.2 KB)

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R Zulueta CPRA Chima.pdf (1.2 MB)
Sofia Colon CPRA Chima.pdf (168.3 KB)
SUSD CC 05-19-23 CPRA Chima.pdf (78.3 KB)
Traci Miller CPRA Chima.pdf (2.7 MB)

Please be sure to look over the 5.24.23 Chima CRPA #2 PDF has 5.19.23 Production H Chima CPRA CC files as it contains important details for interpreting the rest of the files.