California Senate Bill 35 | |
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California State Legislature | |
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Enacted by | 2017-18 session of the California State Legislature |
Enacted | September 30, 2018 |
Signed by | Jerry Brown |
Effective | January 1, 2019 |
Introduced by | Nancy Skinner |
Introduced | December 15, 2016 |
Keywords | |
Police Brutality, California | |
Status: Current legislation |
SB 1421, Senate Bill 1421, or Peace Officers: Release of Records, is a California state law that makes police records relating to officer use-of-force incidents, sexual assault, and acts of dishonesty accessible under the California Public Records Act. [1] The bill was signed into law by then-governor Jerry Brown on September 30, 2018, and took effect on January 1, 2019. [2]
State Senator Nancy Skinner introduced the bill and it was sponsored by advocacy groups including the ACLU of California, Anti Police-Terror Project, Black Lives Matter, California Faculty Association, California News Publishers Association, and Youth Justice Coalition. [3]
Records related to:
Only the following may be redacted:
Disclosure may be delayed when:
Only sustained findings are required to be released. When an officer resigns the findings are not considered sustained and the records remains hidden. [4] This loophole was used by Paso Robles Police Department to avoid releasing investigation records relating to a rape accusation about former Sgt. Christopher McGuire. [5]
When SB 1421 took effect on January 1, 2019, there was disagreement about if the law applies to records before the law took place. [6] In April, Karl Olson, a San Francisco attorney, said there are as many as 20 lawsuits related to requests seeking access to records. [7] In March, over 170 agencies were fighting the new law. [8] Attempts to block the release of records mostly failed. [8]
Six months after the law took effect, many of the state's largest law enforcement agencies had produced little to no records. [8]
In March 2021, the San Francisco Police Department said it would take 10 years to get through its backlog of record requests. [11]
Several law enforcement agencies requested significant fees for access to records. [8]
Cities destroyed records before the law took place. [8] Yuba County destroyed records just after the law took effect. [8] County officials claimed the purge was routine despite the fact that many of the records were years past their required retention dates. [8]
Here are some examples of records released due to SB 1421.
SB 16, which was approved by Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2021, [19] makes more police disciplinary records available such as records about: [20]
In June 2020, during the George Floyd protests, Senator Nancy Skinner introduced Senate Bill 776 to expand upon SB 1421. [21] [22]
SB 776 would:
On September 1, 2020, SB 776 was ordered to the Inactive list and on November 11, 2020, SB 776 died on the Inactive List. [23]
California Senate Bill 35 | |
---|---|
![]() | |
California State Legislature | |
| |
Enacted by | 2017-18 session of the California State Legislature |
Enacted | September 30, 2018 |
Signed by | Jerry Brown |
Effective | January 1, 2019 |
Introduced by | Nancy Skinner |
Introduced | December 15, 2016 |
Keywords | |
Police Brutality, California | |
Status: Current legislation |
SB 1421, Senate Bill 1421, or Peace Officers: Release of Records, is a California state law that makes police records relating to officer use-of-force incidents, sexual assault, and acts of dishonesty accessible under the California Public Records Act. [1] The bill was signed into law by then-governor Jerry Brown on September 30, 2018, and took effect on January 1, 2019. [2]
State Senator Nancy Skinner introduced the bill and it was sponsored by advocacy groups including the ACLU of California, Anti Police-Terror Project, Black Lives Matter, California Faculty Association, California News Publishers Association, and Youth Justice Coalition. [3]
Records related to:
Only the following may be redacted:
Disclosure may be delayed when:
Only sustained findings are required to be released. When an officer resigns the findings are not considered sustained and the records remains hidden. [4] This loophole was used by Paso Robles Police Department to avoid releasing investigation records relating to a rape accusation about former Sgt. Christopher McGuire. [5]
When SB 1421 took effect on January 1, 2019, there was disagreement about if the law applies to records before the law took place. [6] In April, Karl Olson, a San Francisco attorney, said there are as many as 20 lawsuits related to requests seeking access to records. [7] In March, over 170 agencies were fighting the new law. [8] Attempts to block the release of records mostly failed. [8]
Six months after the law took effect, many of the state's largest law enforcement agencies had produced little to no records. [8]
In March 2021, the San Francisco Police Department said it would take 10 years to get through its backlog of record requests. [11]
Several law enforcement agencies requested significant fees for access to records. [8]
Cities destroyed records before the law took place. [8] Yuba County destroyed records just after the law took effect. [8] County officials claimed the purge was routine despite the fact that many of the records were years past their required retention dates. [8]
Here are some examples of records released due to SB 1421.
SB 16, which was approved by Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2021, [19] makes more police disciplinary records available such as records about: [20]
In June 2020, during the George Floyd protests, Senator Nancy Skinner introduced Senate Bill 776 to expand upon SB 1421. [21] [22]
SB 776 would:
On September 1, 2020, SB 776 was ordered to the Inactive list and on November 11, 2020, SB 776 died on the Inactive List. [23]