California Government Code 13293.1 – (a) No law providing for the confidentiality of any records or …
(a) No law providing for the confidentiality of any records or property shall prevent disclosure of information or documents obtained in connection with any audit, evaluation, investigation, or review conducted by the department unless the provision specifically refers to and precludes access, examination, and reproduction pursuant to Section 13293. Information or documents obtained in connection with any audit, evaluation, investigation, or review conducted by the department are subject to any limitations on release of the information or documents as may apply to an employee or officer of the state or local governmental agency or publicly created entity that provided the information or documents to the department. Providing confidential information to the department pursuant to this section, including, but not limited to, confidential information that is subject to a privilege, shall not constitute a waiver of that privilege.
(b) For purposes of this section, “confidentiality of records or property” means that the record or property may lawfully be kept confidential as a result of a statutory or common law privilege or any other provision of law.
Terms Used In California Government Code 13293.1
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- department: refer to the Director and Department of Finance, respectively, unless the context otherwise requires. See California Government Code 13001
- Person: includes any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, limited liability company, business trust, corporation, or company. See California Government Code 17
- State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Government Code 18
- state agency: includes every state office, officer, department, division, bureau, board, and commission. See California Government Code 11000
(c) Any information or documents obtained in connection with an audit, evaluation, investigation, or review conducted by the department may be kept confidential and disclosure of the information or documents shall not be required under the California Public Records Act if the department determines that nondisclosure would protect a person from potential retaliation or fear of retaliation for participating in the audit, evaluation, investigation, or review.
(d) An employee of a state agency, local agency, or publicly created entity, including the entity subject to the audit, shall not publicly disclose papers, correspondence, memoranda, draft audit findings, or information related to those audit findings, or any other content pertaining to any ongoing audit, evaluation, investigation, or review without the department’s express permission. This limitation on disclosure regarding an ongoing audit also applies to the department and any entity who assists the department with an audit, evaluation, investigation, or review.
(Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 37, Sec. 20. (AB 1817) Effective June 27, 2018.)