Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/public-records/)
ACLU lawyers say the county has a host of illegal and unconstitutional policies and practices that stifle public information and debate. A judge now will decide if officials are breaking the law and whether to block their policies.
At the request of District Attorney Todd Spitzer, police chiefs and the Sheriff are working on a policy for all departments to uniformly handle the new state law that creates transparency in law enforcement discipline records, but is opposed by many police unions.
Orange County’s five elected supervisors preside over $6 billion in public spending and pressing issues like homelessness, mental health and drug treatment, and how to balance spending between those programs and county jails, the Sheriff’s Department, and District Attorney’s Office.
A state bill AB 1479 – up for vote on Friday – would create a fine for agencies that grossly violate California’s Public Records Act. A recent successful Voice of OC lawsuit against the County of Orange, appealing denied public records about an evangelist handcuffed by a county supervisor while armed, is a prime test case for the fine.
A hearing is scheduled for Friday morning on whether to ban the release of records sought by conservative publisher Jon Fleischman.
The news organization successfully sued after county supervisors refused to turn over a politically-explosive claim alleging corruption.
The records include subpoenas, Public Records Act requests, investigation reports and expense files that are at least two years old.
The toll road agency reluctantly releases a spreadsheet showing contracts doled out to some of the county’s most high-profile consultants.
Voice of OC filed suit after county officials refused to release records regarding officials’ actions leading up to Carlos Bustamante’s arrest on sex crimes. The open-government advocacy group Californians Aware has joined the suit.
Activists say the city has spent more than $250,000 on the event and refuses to disclose the contracts.