Public records: response to request.

The California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make public records available for inspection, unless an exemption from disclosure applies. Existing law requires an agency to justify withholding any record by demonstrating that the record is exempt under express provisions of the act or that the public interest served by not disclosing the record clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure. The act requires a response to a written request for public records that includes a denial of the request, in whole or in part, to be in writing.