Records Exempt From Disclosure | Placer County, CA (2024)

Certain records are exempt from disclosure. A list of such types of records is provided:

• With regard to information provided to the District by facilities, California Government Code section 6254.7(e) explains that facilities may assert, at the time of submittal, a trade secret exemption from disclosure of information. However, the District policy in conformance with state procedures requires a detailed and complete basis for such a claim. A justification must include a sworn declaration attesting to the following: the extent to which the information is known outside the business, or is shared with employees; the extent of measures taken to guard the secrecy of the information; the value of the information to the business; the resources expended to develop the information; and the difficulty with which the information could be duplicated. In addition, the facility is instructed to make a trade secret claim for specific, narrowly-defined information, not entire documents. The facility’s justification for the request for exemption from disclosure will be evaluated. Based on a review of the declaration, as well as relevant case law and regulations, a determination is made as to what data, if any, will be deemed not to be a public record. Both parties are then advised of their rights to bring appropriate legal action. In the event of a public records request, the records would be made available, unless there was a trade secret claim by the facility for specific information. At that point, the procedure detailed above would be implemented. The District’s procedures (PDF) for information identified by a facility as a trade secrets is provided.
• Preliminary drafts, notes, or interagency or intra-agency memoranda that are not retained by the District in the ordinary course of business, provided that the public interest in withholding those records clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure (Government Code Section 6254(a)).
• Records pertaining to pending litigation to which the District is a party, or to claims made pursuant to Division 3.6 (commencing with Section 810) of Title 1 of the Government Code, until the pending litigation or claim have been finally adjudicated or otherwise settled (Government Code Section 6254(b)).
• Personnel, medical, or similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy (Government Code Section 6254(c)).
• Geological and geophysical data, plant production data, and similar information relating to utility systems development, or market or crop reports, which are obtained in confidence from any person (Government Code Section 6254(e)).
• Records of complaints to, or investigations conducted by or for the District for law enforcement or permit purposes, or any analysis or conclusions of an investigating officer. Notwithstanding the above, the time, substance, and location of all complaints or requests for assistance received by the District, and the time and nature of the response thereto, including, to the extent the information regarding the incident is recorded, the time, date, and location of occurrence, the time and date of the report, the factual circ*mstances surrounding the incident, and the name, age, and current address of the victim of the incident, are public records unless the disclosure of such information:
  • Would endanger the safety of a person involved in an investigation.
  • Would endanger the successful completion of the investigation or a related investigation (Government Code Section 6254(f)).
  • Would be an unwarranted invasion of privacy.
  • Might identify confidential sources.
  • Would reveal information supplied in confidence. This exemption is inapplicable to requests made by a district attorney (Government Code Section 6252).
• Test questions, scoring keys, and other examination data related to examination for employment or academic examination (Government Code Section 6254(g)).
• The contents of real estate appraisals, engineering or feasibility estimates and evaluations made for or by the state or local agency relative to the acquisition of property, or to prospective public supply and construction contracts, until such time as all of the property has been acquired or all of the contract agreements obtained. However, the law of eminent domain shall not be affected by this provision (Government Code Section 6254(h)).
• Library circulation records kept for the purpose of identifying the borrower of items available in the library, and library and museum materials made or acquired and presented solely for reference or exhibition purposes (Government Code Section 6254(j)).
• Records for which disclosure is exempted or prohibited pursuant to federal or state law, including, but not limited to, provisions of the Evidence Code relating to privilege (Government Code Section 6254(k)).
• Confidential communications between the District and its attorneys (Ev. Code Sec. 954).
• Records of documents covered by the attorney work product privilege, or any other judicially recognized privilege, including but not limited to, the deliberative process privilege (Government Code Section 6254(k), C.C.P. Section 2018, Ev. Code Section 952).
• Records which relate to Grand Jury testimony.
• Documents which are privileged under Section 1040 of the Evidence Code, which provides:
  • As used in this section, 'official information' means information acquired in confidence by a public employee in the course of his duty and not open, or officially disclosed, to the public prior to the time the claim of privilege is made.
  • A public entity has a privilege to refuse to disclose information and to prevent another from disclosing such information, if the privilege is claimed by a person authorized by the public entity to do so.
  • Disclosure is forbidden by an act of the Congress of the United States or a statute of this state.
  • Disclosure of the information is against the public interest because there is a necessity for preserving the confidentiality of the information that outweighs the necessity for disclosure in the interest of justice; but no privilege may be claimed under this paragraph if any person authorized to do so has consented that the information be disclosed in the proceeding. In determining whether disclosure of the information is against the public interest, the interest of the public entity as a party in the outcome of the proceeding may not be considered.
• Trade secrets, with the exception of emission data, which may include, but are not limited to, any formula, plan, pattern, process, tool, mechanism, compound, procedure, production data, or compilation of information which is not patented, which is known only to certain individuals within a commercial concern who are using it to fabricate, produce, or compound an article of trade or a service having commercial value, and which gives its user an opportunity to obtain a business advantage over competitors who do not know or use it (Government Code Section 6254(d)).
• Computer software, which includes computer mapping systems, computer programs, and computer graphics systems, developed by a state or local agency including the District (Government Code Section 6254.9(a) and (b)).
• Records that relate to volatile organic compounds and chemical substances information received or compiled by an air pollution control officer pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 42303.2 (Government Code Section 6254.11).
• Records for which the District determines that, on the facts of the particular case, the public interest served by not making the record public clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record (Government Code Section 6255, “deliberative process privilege”). The cost and burden to the District may be relevant factors in determining the public interest in not making the record public.
• A memorandum submitted to a state body or the District’s Governing Board by its legal counsel, pursuant to subdivision (q) of Government Code Section 11126 or 549569, until the pending litigation has been fully adjudicated or otherwise settled. The memorandum shall be protected by the attorney work-product privilege until the pending litigation has been finally adjudicated or otherwise settled (Government Code Section 6254.25).