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3. Common Exemptions.

The following is a list of the most commonly used exemptions for disclosure of records.
If the public agency discloses a public record that is otherwise exempt from disclosure to any
member of the public, that disclosure generally constitutes a waiver of the exemption.
(Government Code § 7921.505.)

Public Records Act Exemptions:

• Preliminary drafts and notes not kept in the ordinary course of business, provided that
the public interest in withholding those records clearly outweighs the public interest
in disclosure. (Government Code § 7927.500.)

• Documents pertaining to pending litigation to which the agency is a party.
(Government Code § 7927.200.) Deposition transcripts are not subject to the pending
litigation exemption because they are generally available to the public pursuant to the
Code of Civil Procedure section 2025.570. (Board of Trustees v. Super. Ct. (2005)
132 Cal.App.4th 889.)

• Personnel, medical, or similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute an
invasion of personal privacy. (Government Code § 7927.700; Marken v. Santa
Monica-Malibu Unified School Dist., (2012) 202 Cal.App.4th 1250.) Public
employee salaries and benefits do not fall into this category. The home addresses and
telephone numbers of employees do. (United States Department of Defense v.
Federal Labor Relations Authority (1994) 114 S.Ct. 1006, 1015-106, 510 U.S. 487,
501-502; International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, Local 21,
AFL-CIO v. Super. Ct. (2007) 42 Cal.4th 319, 339; Sonoma County Employees’
Retirement Association v. Superior Court (2011) 198 Cal.App4th 986.)

• Police investigative reports, except that certain information contained therein must be
disclosed. (Government Code § 7923.600.) Beginning in 2019, Penal Code section
832.7 was amended to state that, notwithstanding Government Code section
7923.600, investigative files involving the following four categories are public
records: (1) an incident involving the discharge of a firearm at a person by an officer;
(2) an incident involving use of force by an officer that results in serious bodily injury
or death; (3) an incident involving a sustained finding, as defined by Penal Code
section 832.8, of sexual assault; and (4) an incident involving a sustained finding, as
defined by Penal Code section 832.8, of falsification.

• Test questions, scoring keys, and other examination data used to administer licensing
examination, examination for employment, or academic examination. (Government
Code § 7929.605.)

• Library circulation records. (Government Code § 7927.100.)

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