california legislature—2021–22 regular session
ASSEMBLY BILL No. 2557
Introduced by Assembly Member Mia Bonta
February 17, 2022
An act to amend Section 832.7 of the Penal Code, relating to peace officers.
legislative counsel’s digest
AB 2557, as introduced, Mia Bonta. Peace officers: records.
Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires a state or local public agenc y to mak e public records a vailable for public inspection and to make copies available upon request and payment of a fee, unless the records are exempt from disclosure. Existing law makes peace officer and custodial officer personnel records and specified records maintained by any state or local agency, or information obtained from these records, confidential and prohibits these records from being disclosed in any criminal or civil proceeding except by discovery.
This bill would make records and information obtained from records maintained by an agency or body established by a city, county, city and county, local government entity, state agency, or state department for the purpose of civilian oversight of peace officers subject to disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act. The bill would require those records to be redacted only as specified. By increasing duties on local entities, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimb urse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state.
Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
99 reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares that public line 2 access to information concerning ci vilian complaints re garding line 3 peace officers, including the records of proceedings of civilian law line 4 enforcement review agencies, is crucial to safe and ef fective law line 5 enforcement in the state. It is the intent of the Le gislature, in line 6 enacting this act, to abrogate the decision in Copley Press, Inc. v. line 7 Superior Court (2006) 39 Cal.4th 1272, to restore public access to line 8 peace officer records, and to restore public access to meetings and line 9 hearings that were open to the public prior to the Cople y Press line 10 decision.
line 11 SEC. 2. Section 832.7 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
line 12 832.7. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the personnel line 13 records of peace officers and custodial officers and records line 14 maintained by a state or local agenc y pursuant to Section 832.5, line 15 or information obtained from these records, are confidential and line 16 shall not be disclosed in an y criminal or ci vil proceeding except line 17 by discovery pursuant to Sections 1043 and 1046 of the Evidence line 18 Code. This section does not apply to investigations or proceedings line 19 concerning the conduct of peace officers or custodial officers, or line 20 an agency or department that emplo ys those officers, conducted line 21 by a grand jury , a district attorne y’s office, or the Attorney line 22 General’s office, or the Commission on Peace Officer Standards line 23 and Training.
line 24 (b) (1) Notwithstanding subdi vision (a), subdi vision (f) of line 25 Section 6254 of the Go vernment Code, or an y other la w, the line 26 following peace officer or custodial officer personnel records and line 27 records maintained by a state or local agenc y shall not be line 28 confidential and shall be made a vailable for public inspection line 29 pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 line 30 (commencing with Section 6250) of Di vision 7 of Title 1 of the line 31 Government Code):
line 32 (A) A record relating to the report, investigation, or findings of line 33 any of the following:
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line 1 (i) An incident involving the discharge of a firearm at a person line 2 by a peace officer or custodial officer.
line 3 (ii) An incident involving the use of force ag ainst a person by line 4 a peace officer or custodial officer that resulted in death or in great line 5 bodily injury.
line 6 (iii) A sustained finding in volving a complaint that alle ges line 7 unreasonable or excessive force.
line 8 (iv) A sustained finding that an officer failed to intervene against line 9 another officer using force that is clearly unreasonable or excessive. line 10 (B) (i) Any record relating to an incident in which a sustained line 11 finding was made by an y law enforcement agenc y or o versight line 12 agency that a peace officer or custodial officer engaged in sexual line 13 assault involving a member of the public.
line 14 (ii) As used in this subparagraph, “se xual assault” means the line 15 commission or attempted initiation of a sexual act with a member line 16 of the public by means of force, threat, coercion, e xtortion, offer line 17 of leniency or other official favor, or under the color of authority. line 18 For purposes of this subparagraph, the propositioning for or line 19 commission of any sexual act while on duty is considered a sexual line 20 assault.
line 21 (iii) As used in this subparagraph, “member of the public” means line 22 any person not employed by the officer’s employing agency and line 23 includes any participant in a cadet, explorer, or other youth program line 24 affiliated with the agency.
line 25 (C) Any record relating to an incident in which a sustained line 26 finding was made by an y law enforcement agenc y or o versight line 27 agency involving dishonesty by a peace officer or custodial officer line 28 directly relating to the reporting, in vestigation, or prosecution of line 29 a crime, or directly relating to the reporting of, or investigation of line 30 misconduct by, another peace officer or custodial officer, including, line 31 but not limited to, false statements, filing false reports, destruction, line 32 falsifying, or concealing of evidence, or perjury. line 33 (D) Any record relating to an incident in which a sustained line 34 finding was made by an y law enforcement agenc y or o versight line 35 agency that a peace officer or custodial officer engaged in conduct line 36 including, but not limited to, v erbal statements, writings, online line 37 posts, recordings, and gestures, in volving prejudice or line 38 discrimination against a person on the basis of race, religious creed, line 39 color, national origin, ancestry , ph ysical disability , mental line 40 disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, 99 AB 2557 — 3 —
line 1 sex, gender , gender identity , gender e xpression, age, se xual line 2 orientation, or military and veteran status.
line 3 (E) Any record relating to an incident in which a sustained line 4 finding was made by an y law enforcement agenc y or o versight line 5 agency that the peace officer made an unlawful arrest or conducted line 6 an unlawful search.
line 7 (2) Records that are subject to disclosure under clause (iii) or line 8 (iv) of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1), or under subparagraph line 9 (D) or (E) of paragraph (1), relating to an incident that occurred line 10 before January 1, 2022, shall not be subject to the time limitations line 11 in paragraph (8) until January 1, 2023.
line 12 (3) Records that shall be released pursuant to this subdi vision line 13 include all investigative reports; photographic, audio, and video line 14 evidence; transcripts or recordings of interviews; autopsy reports; line 15 all materials compiled and presented for re view to the district line 16 attorney or to an y person or body char ged with determining line 17 whether to file criminal char ges against an officer in connection line 18 with an incident, or whether the officer’ s action w as consistent line 19 with la w and agenc y polic y for purposes of discipline or line 20 administrative action, or what discipline to impose or correcti ve line 21 action to take; documents setting forth findings or recommended line 22 findings; and copies of disciplinary records relating to the incident, line 23 including any letters of intent to impose discipline, any documents line 24 reflecting modifications of discipline due to the Skelly or grievance line 25 process, and letters indicating final imposition of discipline or line 26 other documentation reflecting implementation of corrective action. line 27 Records that shall be released pursuant to this subdi vision also line 28 include records relating to an incident specified in paragraph (1) line 29 in which the peace officer or custodial officer resigned before the line 30 law enforcement agenc y or o versight agenc y concluded its line 31 investigation into the alleged incident.
line 32 (4) A record from a separate and prior in vestigation or line 33 assessment of a separate incident shall not be released unless it is line 34 independently subject to disclosure pursuant to this subdivision. line 35 (5) If an in vestigation or incident in volves multiple officers, line 36 information about allegations of misconduct by, or the analysis or line 37 disposition of an investigation of, an officer shall not be released line 38 pursuant to subparagraph (B), (C), (D), or (E) of paragraph (1), line 39 unless it relates to a sustained finding re garding that officer that line 40 is itself subject to disclosure pursuant to this section. Ho wever, 99 — 4 — AB 2557
line 1 factual information about that action of an officer during an line 2 incident, or the statements of an officer about an incident, shall be line 3 released if the y are rele vant to a finding ag ainst another officer line 4 that is subject to release pursuant to subparagraph (B), (C), (D), line 5 or (E) of paragraph (1).
line 6 (6) An agency shall redact a record disclosed pursuant to this line 7 section only for any of the following purposes:
line 8 (A) To remove personal data or information, such as a home line 9 address, telephone number, or identities of family members, other line 10 than the names and work-related information of peace and custodial line 11 officers.
line 12 (B) To preserve the anonymity of whistleblowers, complainants, line 13 victims, and witnesses.
line 14 (C) To protect confidential medical, financial, or other line 15 information of which disclosure is specifically prohibited by federal line 16 law or would cause an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy line 17 that clearly outweighs the strong public interest in records about line 18 possible misconduct and use of force by peace officers and line 19 custodial officers.
line 20 (D) Where there is a specific, articulable, and particularized line 21 reason to belie ve that disclosure of the record w ould pose a line 22 significant danger to the ph ysical safety of the peace officer , line 23 custodial officer, or another person.
line 24 (7) Notwithstanding paragraph (6), an agenc y may redact a line 25 record disclosed pursuant to this section, including personal line 26 identifying information, where, on the facts of the particular case, line 27 the public interest served by not disclosing the information clearly line 28 outweighs the public interest serv ed by disclosure of the line 29 information.
line 30 (8) An agency may withhold a record of an incident described line 31 in paragraph (1) that is the subject of an acti ve criminal or line 32 administrative in vestigation, in accordance with an y of the line 33 following:
line 34 (A) (i) During an active criminal investigation, disclosure may line 35 be delayed for up to 60 days from the date the misconduct or use line 36 of force occurred or until the district attorney determines whether line 37 to file criminal charges related to the misconduct or use of force, line 38 whichever occurs sooner. If an agency delays disclosure pursuant line 39 to this clause, the agenc y shall pro vide, in writing, the specific line 40 basis for the agenc y’s determination that the interest in delaying 99 AB 2557 — 5 —
line 1 disclosure clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure. This line 2 writing shall include the estimated date for disclosure of the line 3 withheld information.
line 4 (ii) After 60 days from the misconduct or use of force, the line 5 agency may continue to delay the disclosure of records or line 6 information if the disclosure could reasonably be e xpected to line 7 interfere with a criminal enforcement proceeding against an officer line 8 who engaged in misconduct or used the force. If an agency delays line 9 disclosure pursuant to this clause, the agenc y shall, at 180-day line 10 intervals as necessary, provide, in writing, the specific basis for line 11 the agency’s determination that disclosure could reasonably be line 12 expected to interfere with a criminal enforcement proceeding. The line 13 writing shall include the estimated date for the disclosure of the line 14 withheld information. Information withheld by the agenc y shall line 15 be disclosed when the specific basis for withholding is resolv ed, line 16 when the investigation or proceeding is no longer active, or by no line 17 later than 18 months after the date of the incident, whichever occurs line 18 sooner.
line 19 (iii) After 60 days from the misconduct or use of force, the line 20 agency may continue to delay the disclosure of records or line 21 information if the disclosure could reasonably be e xpected to line 22 interfere with a criminal enforcement proceeding against someone line 23 other than the officer who engaged in misconduct or used the force. line 24 If an agency delays disclosure under this clause, the agency shall, line 25 at 180-day interv als, provide, in writing, the specific basis wh y line 26 disclosure could reasonably be expected to interfere with a criminal line 27 enforcement proceeding, and shall pro vide an estimated date for line 28 the disclosure of the withheld information. Information withheld line 29 by the agenc y shall be disclosed when the specific basis for line 30 withholding is resolved, when the investigation or proceeding is line 31 no longer active, or by no later than 18 months after the date of line 32 the incident, whiche ver occurs sooner , unless e xtraordinary line 33 circumstances warrant continued delay due to the ongoing criminal line 34 investigation or proceeding. In that case, the agenc y must sho w line 35 by clear and con vincing evidence that the interest in pre venting line 36 prejudice to the acti ve and ongoing criminal in vestigation or line 37 proceeding outweighs the public interest in prompt disclosure of line 38 records about misconduct or use of force by peace officers and line 39 custodial officers. The agency shall release all information subject 99 — 6 — AB 2557
line 1 to disclosure that does not cause substantial prejudice, including line 2 any documents that have otherwise become available. line 3 (iv) In an action to compel disclosure brought pursuant to line 4 Section 6258 of the Go vernment Code, an agenc y may justify line 5 delay by filing an application to seal the basis for withholding, in line 6 accordance with Rule 2.550 of the California Rules of Court, or line 7 any successor rule, if disclosure of the written basis itself w ould line 8 impact a privilege or compromise a pending investigation. line 9 (B) If criminal charges are filed related to the incident in which line 10 misconduct occurred or force was used, the agency may delay the line 11 disclosure of records or information until a verdict on those charges line 12 is returned at trial or , if a plea of guilty or no contest is entered, line 13 the time to withdraw the plea pursuant to Section 1018. line 14 (C) During an administrati ve in vestigation into an incident line 15 described in of paragraph (1), the agency may delay the disclosure line 16 of records or information until the investigating agency determines line 17 whether misconduct or the use of force violated a la w or agency line 18 policy, but no longer than 180 days after the date of the employing line 19 agency’s discovery of the misconduct or use of force, or allegation line 20 of misconduct or use of force, by a person authorized to initiate line 21 an investigation.
line 22 (9) A record of a complaint, or the in vestigations, findings, or line 23 dispositions of that complaint, shall not be released pursuant to line 24 this section if the complaint is fri volous, as defined in Section line 25 128.5 of the Code of Ci vil Procedure, or if the complaint is line 26 unfounded.
line 27 (10) The cost of copies of records subject to disclosure pursuant line 28 to this subdivision that are made a vailable upon the payment of line 29 fees covering direct costs of duplication pursuant to subdi vision line 30 (b) of Section 6253 of the Government Code shall not include the line 31 costs of searching for, editing, or redacting the records. line 32 (11) Except to the e xtent temporary withholding for a longer line 33 period is permitted pursuant to paragraph (8), records subject to line 34 disclosure under this subdivision shall be provided at the earliest line 35 possible time and no later than 45 days from the date of a request line 36 for their disclosure.
line 37 (12) (A) For purposes of releasing records pursuant to this line 38 subdivision, the la wyer-client pri vilege does not prohibit the line 39 disclosure of either of the following:
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line 1 (i) Factual information pro vided by the public entity to its line 2 attorney or f actual information disco vered in an y investigation line 3 conducted by, or on behalf of, the public entity’s attorney. line 4 (ii) Billing records related to the work done by the attorney so line 5 long as the records do not relate to acti ve and ongoing litig ation line 6 and do not disclose information for the purpose of le gal line 7 consultation between the public entity and its attorney. line 8 (B) This paragraph does not prohibit the public entity from line 9 asserting that a record or information within the record is exempted line 10 or prohibited from disclosure pursuant to any other federal or state line 11 law.
line 12 (c) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), a department or line 13 agency shall release to the complaining party a cop y of the line 14 complaining party’s own statements at the time the complaint is line 15 filed.
line 16 (d) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), a department or line 17 agency that employs peace or custodial officers may disseminate line 18 data re garding the number , type, or disposition of complaints line 19 (sustained, not sustained, exonerated, or unfounded) made against line 20 its officers if that information is in a form that does not identify line 21 the individuals involved.
line 22 (e) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), a department or line 23 agency that employs peace or custodial officers may release factual line 24 information concerning a disciplinary in vestigation if the officer line 25 who is the subject of the disciplinary investigation, or the officer’s line 26 agent or representative, publicly makes a statement that they know line 27 to be f alse concerning the in vestigation or the imposition of line 28 disciplinary action. Information may not be disclosed by the peace line 29 or custodial officer’ s emplo yer unless the f alse statement w as line 30 published by an established medium of communication, such as line 31 television, radio, or a newspaper. Disclosure of factual information line 32 by the emplo ying agency pursuant to this subdi vision is limited line 33 to facts contained in the officer’ s personnel file concerning the line 34 disciplinary investigation or imposition of disciplinary action that line 35 specifically refute the false statements made public by the peace line 36 or custodial officer or their agent or representative. line 37 (f) (1) The department or agenc y shall pro vide written line 38 notification to the complaining party of the disposition of the line 39 complaint within 30 days of the disposition.
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line 1 (2) The notification described in this subdi vision is not line 2 conclusive or binding or admissible as e vidence in an y separate line 3 or subsequent action or proceeding brought before an arbitrator , line 4 court, or judge of this state or the United States. line 5 (g) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), subdivision (f) of Section line 6 6254 of the Government Code, or any other law, or the holding in line 7 Copley Pr ess, Inc. v . Superior Court (2006) 39 Cal.4th 1272, line 8 records and information obtained from records maintained by an line 9 agency or body established by a city, county, city and county, local line 10 government entity , state a gency, or state department for the line 11 purpose of civilian o versight of peace officer s shall not be line 12 confidential and shall be made available for public inspection line 13 pursuant to the California Public Recor ds Act (Chapter 3.5 line 14 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the line 15 Government Code). A record disclosed pursuant to this paragraph line 16 shall be r edacted only to r emove personal data or information line 17 such as a home address, telephone number, or identities of family line 18 members, other than the names and work-r elated information of line 19 peace and custodial officer s, to pr eserve the anonymity of line 20 complainants and witnesses, or to pr otect confidential medical, line 21 financial, or other information in whic h disclosure would cause line 22 an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy that clearly outweighs line 23 the strong public interest in records about misconduct by peace line 24 officers and custodial officer s, or wher e ther e is a specific, line 25 particularized reason to believe that disclosure of the record would line 26 pose a significant danger to the physical safety of the peace officer, line 27 custodial officer, or others.
line 28 (g)
line 29 (h) This section does not af fect the discovery or disclosure of line 30 information contained in a peace or custodial officer’ s personnel line 31 file pursuant to Section 1043 of the Evidence Code. line 32 (h)
line 33 (i) This section does not supersede or af fect the criminal line 34 discovery process outlined in Chapter 10 (commencing with line 35 Section 1054) of Title 6 of Part 2, or the admissibility of personnel line 36 records pursuant to subdi vision (a), which codifies the court line 37 decision in Pitchess v. Superior Court (1974) 11 Cal.3d 531. line 38 (i)
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line 1 (j) Nothing in this chapter is intended to limit the public’s right line 2 of access as pro vided for in Long Beach Police Officers line 3 Association v. City of Long Beach (2014) 59 Cal.4th 59. line 4 SEC. 3. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that line 5 this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimb ursement to line 6 local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made line 7 pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division line 8 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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