Public Records

Public Records Requests

The City Clerk's office handles all public records requests submitted to the City. Please refer to the guidelines below before submitting a request.

Special Cases

Before you submit a request for records, please review the following to see if any apply to you:

• Online records. Please visit our Public Records Portal to see if the records you want are readily available for download. If a record is readily available to the public online, the City will not fulfill a public records request for it. 
• Examples of documents that are readily available for download:
  • City Council and Planning Commission meeting minutes
  • Ordinances, resolutions, agendas, and staff reports
  • Police Department policies
• Duplicate requests. Please do not submit the same request to more than one department. In particular, please do not submit requests for police department records to both the City Clerk and the Police Records Division. Duplication of requests results in duplication of staff efforts and wastes taxpayer resources. 
• Court cases. If you're requesting records for a court case, please obtain a subpoena if possible, instead of filing a records request. Requests submitted under the public records act take significantly longer to process, require more complex analysis, and will result in more records being redacted or withheld, compared to subpoenaed records. Please serve subpoenas for records on the City Clerk's office at City Hall. 
• Arrest Records. To obtain a copy of your own arrest record, please contact the Police Department directly at policerecords@pismobeach.org.
• Law enforcement agencies. If you represent a California law enforcement agency and need to request law enforcement records for legitimate investigatory purposes, they may be obtained directly from our Police Department by contacting policerecords@pismobeach.org. A records request is not needed. This approach is the most efficient and best maintains confidentiality.
• Consultants and other vendors. If you are a consultant or vendor doing work under contract with the City, please do not use a records request to obtain records or data for your City project. Please request this information directly from the staff administering your contract for services.
• Government agencies. If you represent a government agency (non-law enforcement) and need to request records or information, please contact the City Clerk's office directly to see if the records or information can be released on an informal, cooperative basis. In most cases, this approach will be more efficient and less restrictive for both parties than a formal records request. 

Guidelines for formulating a request:

• Please make a focused and specific request for records. The Public Records Act and related case law provide that a records request must reasonably describe particular, identifiable record(s), and not be overly broad. 
• Tips for formulating an effective records request:
  • Be as specific as possible. The more detail you can provide about which record you seek, the more likely it is to be timely located. If you don't know the exact name of a record you seek, describing the information you believe the record contains is often sufficient.
  • Identify the specific type of records you seek. Examples of specific types of records might include an invoice, encroachment permit, building permit, letter, planning entitlement application, RFP, etc. Examples of requests that are too broad are requests for permits, documents, or records. 
  • Identify the timeframe within which the record was created. If a specific date is unknown, narrowing the request to an estimated year or span of years can greatly expedite a search.
  • Be as specific as possible in providing the names of parties involved, the address and/or APN of properties involved, etc.
  • If requesting copies of email records, identify specific keywords that are likely to return the emails you seek, as well as date parameters and city officials whose communications you believe will be responsive. Otherwise, staff will exercise discretion in formulating a search.
• Overly broad or vague requests may require large amounts of staff time to evaluate and are less likely to result in the specific information sought by a requestor. If you are unsure what types of records may contain the information you seek, please contact staff to obtain assistance in formulating an effective request before submitting. If an overly broad or vague request is received, the requestor may be required to refine the scope of their request before it is evaluated. Refusal to narrow or clarify a broad request may lead to an outright rejection. 
• Exemptions: A number of specific types of records are exempt from production (will not be provided to a requestor) under the Public Records Act statute. Where record(s) are withheld, the City will identify which code section applies, however the City is not obligated to provide a list of which specific records were withheld.
• Sensitive Information: Public records requests are a matter of public record. Please do not include personal information such as birth dates, social security numbers (SSNs), driver's license numbers, residence addresses, photos of your identification cards, medical records, etc., when submitting your initial request. The City does not need this information in order to process the vast majority of requests. The identity of a requestor is almost never a factor in the evaluation of a request. If the City needs further details or proof of identity, you will be asked for that information later. 
• Copies and fees: Copies of records will be delivered in digital format if no preference is indicated. In most cases, there will be no charge for electronic records; there may be a fee for production of hard copies or compilation of electronic data.
• Scope of the Act: The Public Records Act is a vehicle for obtaining copies of existing records that are created, owned, used, or retained by the City. The Act is not a vehicle for requesting that the City create or compile a record that doesn't already exist, or provide miscellaneous information not otherwise evidenced by existing documents. Requests for miscellaneous information may be submitted, but will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and in some cases may not be honored.
• FOIA not applicable: Please note that City records are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which is a vehicle for obtaining federal records only. Any requests claiming to seek records under FOIA will instead be interpreted in accordance with the provisions of the Public Records Act, California Government Code Section 7920 et seq., and other statutes regulating the release of local agency records.

To submit a request:

To submit a Public Records Request, you may:

• Submit the request via email to the City Clerk at cityclerk@pismobeach.org; or
• Submit the request via mail or in person: City Clerk's Office, City Hall, 760 Mattie Road, Pismo Beach, 93449

You are not required by law to make a written request; if you are unable or unwilling to make a written request, please contact the City Clerk’s Office for assistance.

After submitting a request:

Within 10 days from the receipt of the request, the City will notify the requestor of whether it believes it possesses responsive, disclosable records. Under certain circumstances, the City may extend this timeframe.