California Public Records Act (CPRA)

The California Public Records Act protects the rights of journalists and members of the public to request information from government agencies. If you are interested in obtaining a record from the FPPC, the material below will help you to understand how the process works. 

To submit a request, complete the public records request form and email it to cpra@fppc.ca.gov.

A commonly requested document is Form 700 for public officials; however, submitting a CPRA request to obtain these forms is unnecessary. To promote compliance and increase transparency in government, the Forms 700s for many local and state officials can be searched by the Form 700 Search. 

To request a Form 700 that is not on our website, email us at press@fppc.ca.gov.

Another commonly requested document is Form 462, which is filed by committees or individuals making independent expenditures. However, similar to Form 700, submitting a CPRA request to obtain these forms is unnecessary.

To request a Form 462, email us at Form462@fppc.ca.gov.  

The Act specifies when and where candidates and committees must file campaign statements. However, candidates and committees do not file campaign statements with the FPPC.

Generally, candidates and committees involved in state elections (constitutional officers, Senate, Assembly, statewide ballot measures) file with the Secretary of State’s office. The Political Reform Division of the Secretary of State’s office provides public access to campaign statements in its possession. Electronic filings of campaign statements for state candidates and state committees can be found on the Secretary of State’s office Cal-Access website.

Candidates and committees involved in county, city, or special district elections file with their local elections office. To promote compliance and increase government transparency, campaign statements for many local officials can be searched for on the Local Campaign Filings AB 2151 page.

You should contact the appropriate filing office if you wish to obtain copies of campaign statements.

Requests can be submitted via email, telephone, or letter.

Please provide the following information:

1. The name of the requestor.
2. Organization (if any).
3. A mailing address, telephone/fax number and/or email address.
4. A specific description of the records requested.

CPRA requests will be logged, and the Commission will assign them a number for tracking purposes. Requests for public records and our response are themselves public records that may be requested.

1. Responses will generally be mailed or emailed. 
2. The Commission charges 10 cents per page for copies (including copies that are made for email). 
3. If the copying charges are $5 or less, we will provide the documents at no charge.
4. The Commission charges $5 per CD for electronic versions of certain documents (if available in electronic form).

The Commission strives to fully comply with the request within ten calendar days. If this is not possible, the Commission will notify you with an estimate of the date the records will be available.

The ten-day response period starts with the first calendar day after the date of receipt. If the request is received after 5pm on a weekday, or on a weekend or holiday, the next business day will be considered the date of receipt.