California Government Code Section 6250 was the opening declaration of the California Public Records Act, establishing that access to information about the public’s business is a fundamental right. That section no longer exists in the code. Effective January 1, 2023, the Legislature repealed Sections 6250 through 6270 and moved the entire Public Records Act into Division 10 of the Government Code, starting at Section 7920.1California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 7920.505 The old Section 6250 is now Section 7921.000. The law itself did not change.
Why Section 6250 Was Repealed
The repeal was a reorganization, not a rollback. For decades, the Public Records Act lived in a handful of long, dense sections of the Government Code. The 2023 recodification spread those provisions across dozens of shorter, more navigable sections without altering the substantive law. The foundational principle written into old Section 6250 — that every government record is open to the public unless a specific exemption justifies withholding it — carries forward intact in Section 7921.000.2California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 6250
If you are drafting a records request, a court petition, or any new filing or correspondence, cite the current 7920-series sections. The old numbers are dead letters in the code, even though they still appear throughout older case law and agency guidance.
Where the Old Sections Live Now
These are the mappings most people arriving at Section 6250 actually need:
- Foundational declaration (old 6250): now Section 7921.000
- Definitions of “public records” and “writing” (old 6252): now Section 7920.530 and nearby provisions
- Request procedures and deadlines (old 6253): now Sections 7922.525 through 7922.535
- Public interest balancing test (old 6255): now Section 7922.000
- Exemptions (old 6254): spread across dozens of sections in Parts 4 and 5, starting around Section 7923.600
- Court enforcement (old 6258 and 6259): now Sections 7923.100 and 7923.115
What the Act Does
Under the recodified law, any person can inspect writings held by a state or local agency that relate to the conduct of public business. “State agency” covers every state office, department, board, and commission. “Local agency” includes counties, cities, school districts, and their subsidiary boards. “Writing” is defined broadly and reaches handwriting, printouts, photographs, emails, electronic transmissions, audio recordings, and anything else that captures information on a tangible medium. The test is content and custody, not format.
Making a Request
You send your request directly to the agency that holds the records. California has no central clearinghouse, so identifying the correct office matters. Describe the records specifically enough that the agency can locate them; vague requests invite delay. The law allows oral or written requests, but a written request creates a paper trail that becomes critical if you later need to challenge a denial. Email is fine, and many agencies accept requests through online portals.
An agency cannot require you to explain why you want the records. Journalists, business competitors, residents, and litigants all have the same right of access, and you can decline to state a purpose without jeopardizing the request.
Deadlines
Once an agency receives a written request, it has 10 calendar days to determine whether the records are disclosable and to notify you of that determination. The agency can extend the window by up to 14 additional days if unusual circumstances apply, such as collecting records from field offices or searching through a large volume of material. The extension must be in writing and must give a date by which the agency will respond.
The determination deadline is firm. The delivery deadline is not. After a favorable determination, the law requires only that records be produced “promptly.” Courts have accepted a two-week turnaround as reasonable and have sometimes allowed longer delays when records genuinely were not available sooner. A month of silence with no explanation has drawn judicial skepticism. If records don’t arrive within a few weeks of a favorable determination, follow up in writing.
Fees
Agencies can charge the direct cost of duplicating records. They cannot bill you for staff time spent searching for records or reviewing them for exemptions. For electronic records that already exist in a producible format, the same direct-cost limit applies.3California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 7922.575 If your request requires the agency to compile data, extract information from a database, or write programming to generate a record that does not exist in that form, you bear the full cost of that work. Ask for an estimate before committing to a complex data request.
Exemptions
The Act’s default is disclosure, but the recodified law contains dozens of specific exemptions. None of them is a blanket category an agency can invoke casually. Preliminary drafts and internal memoranda can be withheld only when they were not retained in the ordinary course of business and the public interest in withholding clearly outweighs the interest in disclosure. Personnel, medical, and similar files are exempt when disclosure would be an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy — a standard that still allows release when the public interest justifies it, as with certain police disciplinary records.4California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 7927.700 Investigation records held by law enforcement are generally exempt, though California has in recent years expanded access to certain police records, including those involving officer-involved shootings and sustained findings of dishonesty or sexual assault.5California Legislative Information. California Government Code 7923.600
Beyond specific exemptions, the Act preserves the public interest balancing test formerly at Section 6255. An agency may withhold a record by showing that the public interest in nondisclosure clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure.6California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 7922.000 The word “clearly” sets a high bar, and the agency must make the showing on the facts of the case rather than by policy.
Enforcement
The Act provides no administrative appeal. If an agency denies your request or ignores it, you file a verified petition in the superior court of the county where the records are located.7California Legislative Information. California Government Code GOV 7923.100 Courts prioritize these cases, and the agency bears the burden of justifying any refusal. If you prevail, the court must award you court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees, paid by the agency.8California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 7923.115 If the court finds your case clearly frivolous, it can order you to pay the agency’s fees, but the standard is high and a good-faith dispute over an exemption is not frivolous.
A trial court order in a records case is not reviewed by ordinary appeal. Either party seeks immediate review by filing a petition for an extraordinary writ in the appellate court within 20 days of being served with notice of the order.
When the Old 6250 Citation Is Still Useful
Court opinions, treatises, and agency manuals written before 2023 cite the old section numbers throughout. Those references remain valuable for understanding how courts have interpreted the Act, because the recodification carried the substantive law forward without rewriting it. When you encounter a case citing Section 6250, 6253, or 6254, read it as speaking to the current law under its new numbers. For anything you are writing today — a request letter, a petition, a response to an agency — use the 7920-series citation.