Access to Police Personnel Files

Class recorded February 24, 2022.

Effective January 1, 2022, access to police personnel files has been expanded and modified under Senate Bill 16. This bill, among other provisions, added new categories of documents subject to disclosure. Read S.B. 16 here, and read more about the bill here.

The Legislature recently passed Senate Bill 1421, making many types of police personnel files available to anyone through a California Public Records Act request. Learn the current state of the law and how to access police personnel files.

Formerly, such records were only available through specified court procedures like Pitchess motions, which imposed stringent requirements. The new law relaxed those requirements, but implementation has been complex and there have been numerous court challenges to the law’s scope and validity.

Class covers:

• How to access police personnel files under the new law, Senate Bill 1421
• How Senate Bill 1421 changed existing law, including the Pitchess motion procedure
• Why implementation of Senate Bill 1421 has been complex
• Court challenges to the new law’s scope and validity, and what they might mean for accessing police personnel files in the future

Presented by:
David A. Katz, Managing Attorney, Katz & Associates

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