Public records: custodian of records: civil penalties.

Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires a public agency, defined to mean any state or local agency, to make its public records available for public inspection and to make copies available upon request and payment of a fee, unless the public records are exempt from disclosure. Existing law requires an agency to justify withholding a record from disclosure by demonstrating either that the record in question is exempt under express provisions of law or that on the facts of the particular case the public interest served by not disclosing the record clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record. Existing law requires specified state and local agencies…