Bill > AB1821

This bill clarifies existing California law regarding the California Public Records Act—a state law that gives the public the right to access government records—by explicitly changing deadlines from calendar days to business days. Specifically, the legislation requires state and local government agencies to determine whether they possess disclosable public records and notify the requester within 10 business days of receiving a request, rather than standard calendar days. Additionally, under unusual circumstances—such as needing to gather records from separate facilities, handling voluminous requests, dealing with data system cyberattacks, or operating during a formally proclaimed state of emergency—agencies are permitted to extend this initial response deadline by no more than an additional 14 business days, ensuring that weekends and holidays are excluded from these calculation periods to give public agencies realistic timeframes to process information requests while maintaining transparency.