California · Public Records Act

The California Public Records Act, run in one platform

AccessPoint manages California Public Records Act requests — the 10-day determination, the 14-day extension, exemptions, and direct-cost copies — pre-configured for California and running inside your own Microsoft 365 tenant.

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California at a glance

Response deadline
10 days to determine whether disclosable records are held (Gov. Code § 7922.535)
Extensions
Up to 14 days more in unusual circumstances, by written notice
Application fee
None; copies at the direct cost of duplication
Enforcement
Writ of mandate in the superior court — no AG ruling, no administrative appeal
Oversight
The courts; a prevailing requester recovers attorney's fees
Languages
English

Built for California

One platform for the whole access-and-privacy mandate, pre-configured for this regime and running in your own Microsoft 365 tenant.

Public Records Act lifecycle

Intake to production under the California Public Records Act (Gov. Code §§ 7920.000 et seq.) — the 10-day determination, the 14-day unusual-circumstances extension, exemptions, and direct-cost copies — all on Microsoft 365.

The 10-day determination

Track the statutory 10-day window to tell a requester whether you hold disclosable records — with business-day math, the written extension notice, and reminders before the clock runs out.

Exemptions and the public-interest test

Apply the Act's category exemptions and the catch-all public-interest balancing test line by line, with a colour-coded catalogue and a defensible, audit-trailed redaction record.

Writ-of-mandate readiness

California offers no AG ruling and no administrative appeal — access is enforced by writ of mandate in the superior court. Keep a complete, court-ready record of every determination and search.

Direct-cost copying

Charge only the direct cost of duplication, plus the statutory programming cost for producing electronic records — computed and logged per request.

In your own tenant

Every request and record stays inside your own Microsoft 365 and Azure tenant — no third-party cloud, no cross-border transfers, and no per-user fees.

The California clock

Ten days to decide, and the courtroom as the only appeal.

The California Public Records Act gives an agency ten days to determine whether a request seeks disclosable records and to tell the requester — extendable by fourteen days only in unusual circumstances. There is no Attorney General ruling and no administrative appeal: a requester who is refused goes straight to the superior court for a writ of mandate, and a prevailing requester recovers attorney's fees. AccessPoint keeps the clock and builds the record — every determination, exemption, and search logged — so a decision holds up if it is challenged.

10-day determination The statutory decision window, tracked in calendar days from receipt (Gov. Code § 7922.535), with a due date on a weekend or holiday moving to the next business day.
Writ of mandate A court-ready record for the only appeal California offers.
Direct-cost copies Duplication charged at direct cost, computed per request.

Configured out of the box

Installing the us-ca-pra jurisdiction pack seeds your tenant with everything this regime needs. It is a starting point built from public information about the legislation, not legal advice — your legal counsel validates and adjusts it for your tenant.

Pack content last reviewed: 2026-07-13

Related guide: FOI Workflow Quick Check
  • The California Public Records Act (Gov. Code §§ 7920.000 et seq.) as the legal-authority and citation spine
  • The California court-holiday calendar and the 10-day determination due-date rules
  • The Act's exemption catalogue and public-interest balancing test, colour-coded for redaction
  • Unusual-circumstances extension reasons with citations and the 14-day limit
  • Direct-cost duplication and electronic-record programming-cost rules
  • Writ-of-mandate evidence packages and complete determination records
  • California timeliness tracking across the 10-day and extended windows
  • Public Records Act correspondence templates with statutory wording
A jurisdiction pack's detail panel in AccessPoint settings, showing the pack description, version, what's new, and the checklist of items it imports: legal authorities, calendars, request statuses, request types, extension reasons, requestor categories and consultation types Click to enlarge
What a pack looks like in Settings (the Ontario municipal pack shown): the description, the version and what changed in it, and every item it imports with its statutory basis. Anything you have customized is never overwritten on update.

California Questions

What is the deadline to respond under the California Public Records Act?
Ten days. Within 10 days of receiving a request an agency must determine whether it holds disclosable records and notify the requester — this is a determination deadline, not a deadline to hand over the records. It can be extended by up to 14 days in unusual circumstances, on written notice. AccessPoint tracks both windows in calendar days, as section 7922.535 counts them.

Is there an Attorney General ruling or appeal step?
No. Unlike some states, California has no Attorney General ruling and no administrative appeal. A requester who is refused enforces the right by petition for a writ of mandate in the superior court, and a prevailing requester recovers court costs and reasonable attorney's fees. AccessPoint keeps a complete, court-ready record for that path.

What can an agency charge for copies?
Only the direct cost of duplication, plus the statutory programming cost to produce a record from an electronic system; there is no application fee for inspection. AccessPoint computes and logs the charge per request so it stays within the statutory limit.

Where does agency data reside?
Entirely within your own Microsoft 365 and Azure tenant. Requests, documents, and audit history never leave your control — no third-party cloud, no vendor access, and no cross-border data transfers.

Go deeper

AccessPoint for Alabama A brand-new response clock, layered on Alabama's 1981 Stone balancing test AccessPoint for Alaska Silence is a denial, then a two-step appeal — agency head, then superior court AccessPoint for Arizona Open records on a balancing test, no exemption list FOI request management software The full request lifecycle — computed deadlines, records collection, redaction, audit. AccessPoint vs. GovQA Granicus Records Request Management — requests only, vendor cloud. AccessPoint vs. NextRequest CivicPlus's public-records platform — strong portal, vendor cloud only.

Flat annual pricing, published in full. Every feature in every size — access requests, privacy impact assessments, breach response, complaints, video & audio redaction, and AI Assist. No per-user or per-module fees.

  • Under 500 employees$2,990/yr
  • 500–2,000 employees$7,990/yr
  • Over 2,000 employees$14,990/yr

See full pricing Build the business case

Run the California Public Records Act in One Platform

Try AccessPoint free for 30 days, pre-configured for California. No credit card required.

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