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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 04071992 - 1.8 (2) 1 . 80 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS _ - . ContraS E..L FROM: Phil Batchelor, County Administrator ` Costa County DATE: April 1, 1992 SUBJECT: LEGISLATION: AB 2674 (Moore) SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION: Adopt a position in OPPOSITION to AB 2674 by Assemblywoman Gwen Moore which would impose additional reporting and record-keeping requirements on counties regarding the release of personal information to the public by means of electronic media. BACKGROUND: Existing law provides that public records of state and local agencies, as they are defined in the law, are available for inspection, with certain exceptions . Assemblywoman Gwen Moore has introduced AB 2674 . As introduced, AB 2674 would do the following: 1 . Whenever any state or local agency provides personal information about a person to the public by electronic media, it would be required to notify the individual that the information is being provided to the public along with the name of each recipient or requestor of the information. However, the home address and home telephone number of an individual which is contained in a public record can not be released without the authorization of the individual . 2 . Each local agency which maintains information about individuals would be required to keep a log of the persons who request that information. 3 . County Assessors and County Recorders would be allowed to withhold their records about individuals pending receipt of written authorization from the individual that the information may be disclosed. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON April ' APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS ��// I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE _X UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. q q CC: County Administrator ATTESTED Assessor County Clerk-Recorder PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF County Counsel SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Risk Management &Ilk BY DEPUTY M382 (10/88) -2- 4 . County Assessors and County Recorders would be allowed to withhold their records about individuals, in the case of a request from a governmental agency, until receipt of a statement of the purpose for the disclosure. 5 . The bill specifies that it not to be construed to authorize the disclosure of information that is not a public record or which is otherwise exempt from disclosure. The County Counsel ' s office points out that the bill imposes extensive new notification and record-keeping requirements on local governments and that, in fact, it may be nearly impossible to actually comply with the requirements of the bill . Failure to comply with the requirements of the bill could open the County to costly and extended litigation for failing to abide by the notification and record-keeping requirements . As just one example, every piece of correspondence to the Board of Supervisors which is listed on the Board' s agenda is presumably a public record and is, therefore, available to the media. However, if the letter contains the home address and/or home telephone number of the individual, it would appear that that information could not be released to the electronic media without the authorization of the individual, meaning that the address and/or telephone number would have to be removed from the letter before the electronic media could see the letter. A similar restriction does not, however, appear to apply to the print media or any other individual who may want to see such a letter. The complications are clearly overwhelming and would require substantial amounts of staff time to administer, even if it were possible to actually administer these requirements . Among the problems with the bill is the fact that "electronic media" is not defined, nor is "personal information" defined, which would lead to endless arguments and litigation about what is or is not "personal" . Does sharing a copy of a letter written by an individual to the Board of Supervisors with a television reporter constitute providing personal information to the public by means of electronic media? Does it matter whether the County is seeking to initiate the release of the information or is simply responding to a request from the media? Does this also mean that every individual writing to the Board of Supervisors must be warned that any personal information contained in the letter may be released to the electronic media but that they need not be warned that the same information may be released to the print media? The questions and complications regarding this bill are virtually endless . The County Counsel ' s office recommends that the Board of Supervisors oppose AB 2674 and this office concurs in that recommendation.