Chapter 2 - Definitions

California Government Code — §§ 7920.500-7920.545

Sections (10)

Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 142, Sec. 1. (AB 343) Effective January 1, 2026.

For purposes of Article 3 (commencing with Section 7928.200) of Chapter 14 of Part 5, “elected or appointed official” includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(a)A state constitutional officer.
(b)A Member of the Legislature.
(c)An active or retired judge, court commissioner, or judge of the State Bar Court.
(d)A

district attorney.

(e)A public defender.
(f)A member of a city council.
(g)A member of a board of supervisors.
(h)An appointee of the Governor.
(i)An appointee of the Legislature.
(j)A mayor.
(k)A city attorney.
(l)A police chief or sheriff.
(m)A public safety official.
(n)A state

administrative law judge.

(o)An active or retired federal judge or federal defender.
(p)A member of the United States Congress or appointee of the President of the United States.
(q)An active or retired judge of a federally recognized Indian tribe.
(r)An appointee of a court to serve as children’s counsel in a family or dependency proceeding.

Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 614, Sec. 2. (AB 473) Effective January 1, 2022. Operative January 1, 2023, pursuant to Sec. 7931.000.

(a)The following provisions are continuations of provisions that were included in former Section 6254 as that section read when it was repealed by the CPRA Recodification Act of 2021:
(1)Section 7921.500.
(2)Sections 7923.600 to 7923.625, inclusive.
(3)Section 7923.700.
(4)Sections 7923.800 and 7923.805.
(5)Section 7924.505.
(6)Section 7925.000.
(7)Section 7925.005.
(8)Section 7925.010.
(9)Section 7926.000.
(10)Section 7926.100.
(11)Section 7926.200.
(12)Section 7926.210.
(13)Section 7926.220, except the continuation of former Section 6254.14(b).
(14)Section 7926.225, except the continuation of former Section 6254.14(b).
(15)Section 7926.230, except the continuation of former Section 6254.14(b).
(16)Section 7926.235.
(17)Section 7927.000.
(18)Section 7927.100.
(19)Section 7927.200.
(20)Section 7927.300.
(21)Section 7927.500.
(22)Section 7927.700.
(23)Section 7927.705.
(24)Section 7928.000.
(25)Section 7928.100.
(26)Sections 7928.405 and 7928.410.
(27)Section 7928.705.
(28)Section 7929.000.
(29)Section 7929.200.
(30)Section 7929.205.
(31)Chapter 18 (commencing with Section 7929.400) of Part 5.
(32)Section 7929.605.
(b)The provisions listed in subdivision (a) may be referred to as “former Section 6254 provisions.”
(c)Subdivision (a) does not include any provision that was first codified in one of the specified numerical ranges after the effective date of the CPRA Recodification Act of 2021.

Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 614, Sec. 2. (AB 473) Effective January 1, 2022. Operative January 1, 2023, pursuant to Sec. 7931.000.

As used in this division, “local agency” includes any of the following:

(a)A county.
(b)A city, whether general law or chartered.
(c)A city and county.
(d)A school district.
(e)A municipal corporation.
(f)A district.
(g)A political subdivision.
(h)Any board, commission, or agency of the foregoing.
(i)Another local public agency.
(j)An entity that is a legislative body of a local agency pursuant to subdivision (c) or (d) of Section 54952.

Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 614, Sec. 2. (AB 473) Effective January 1, 2022. Operative January 1, 2023, pursuant to Sec. 7931.000.

As used in this division, “member of the public” means any person other than a member, agent, officer, or employee of a federal, state, or local agency who is acting within the scope of that membership, agency, office, or employment.

Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 614, Sec. 2. (AB 473) Effective January 1, 2022. Operative January 1, 2023, pursuant to Sec. 7931.000.

As used in this division, “person” includes any natural person, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, firm, or association.

Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 614, Sec. 2. (AB 473) Effective January 1, 2022. Operative January 1, 2023, pursuant to Sec. 7931.000.

(a)As used in this division, “public agency” means any state or local agency.
(b)As used in Article 5 (commencing with Section 7926.400) of Chapter 5 of Part 5, “public agency” means an entity specified in subdivision (c) of Section 7926.400.

Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 614, Sec. 2. (AB 473) Effective January 1, 2022. Operative January 1, 2023, pursuant to Sec. 7931.000.

(a)As used in this division, “public records” includes any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics.
(b)“Public records” in the custody of, or maintained by, the Governor’s office means any writing prepared on or after January 6, 1975.

Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 614, Sec. 2. (AB 473) Effective January 1, 2022. Operative January 1, 2023, pursuant to Sec. 7931.000.

As used in this division, “public safety official” means the following parties, whether active or retired:

(a)A peace officer as defined in Sections 830 to 830.65, inclusive, of the Penal Code, or a person who is not a peace officer, but may exercise the powers of arrest during the course and within the scope of the person’s employment pursuant to Section 830.7 of the Penal Code.
(b)A public officer or other person listed in Section 1808.2 or 1808.6 of the Vehicle Code.
(c)An “elected or appointed official” as defined in Section 7920.500.
(d)An attorney employed

by the Department of Justice, the State Public Defender, or a county office of the district attorney or public defender, the United States Attorney, or the Federal Public Defender.

(e)A city attorney and an attorney who represents cities in criminal matters.
(f)An employee of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation who supervises inmates or is required to have care or custody of a prisoner.
(g)A sworn or nonsworn employee who supervises inmates in a city police department, a county sheriff’s office, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, federal, state, or a local detention facility, or a local juvenile hall, camp, ranch, or home, and a probation officer as defined in Section 830.5 of the Penal Code.
(h)A federal prosecutor, a

federal criminal investigator, and a National Park Service Ranger working in California.

(i)The surviving spouse or child of a peace officer defined in Section 830 of the Penal Code, if the peace officer died in the line of duty.
(j)State and federal judges and court commissioners.
(k)An employee of the Attorney General, a district attorney, or a public defender who submits verification from the Attorney General, district attorney, or public defender that the employee represents the Attorney General, district attorney, or public defender in matters that routinely place that employee in personal contact with persons under investigation for, charged with, or convicted of, committing criminal acts.
(l)A nonsworn employee of the Department of Justice or

a police department or sheriff’s office that, in the course of employment, is responsible for collecting, documenting, and preserving physical evidence at crime scenes, testifying in court as an expert witness, and other technical duties, and a nonsworn employee that, in the course of employment, performs a variety of standardized and advanced laboratory procedures in the examination of physical crime evidence, determines their results, and provides expert testimony in court.

Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 614, Sec. 2. (AB 473) Effective January 1, 2022. Operative January 1, 2023, pursuant to Sec. 7931.000.

(a)As used in this division, “state agency” means every state office, officer, department, division, bureau, board, and commission or other state body or agency, except those agencies provided for in Article IV (except Section 20 thereof) or Article VI of the California Constitution.
(b)Notwithstanding subdivision (a) or any other law, “state agency” also means the State Bar of California, as described in Section 6001 of the Business and Professions Code.

Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 614, Sec. 2. (AB 473) Effective January 1, 2022. Operative January 1, 2023, pursuant to Sec. 7931.000.

As used in this division, “writing” means any handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photographing, photocopying, transmitting by electronic mail or facsimile, and every other means of recording upon any tangible thing any form of communication or representation, including letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combinations thereof, and any record thereby created, regardless of the manner in which the record has been stored.