Litigation of Interest
Rittiman v. Public Utilities Commission (Court of Appeal of the State of California, First Appellate District). On June 17, 2022, court ruled Public Utilities Commission’s administrative appeal process imposed on a requestor of public records violated the Public Records Act and stated “The delay that occurrred here was egregious by any measure…” Court held any regulations adopted by an agency for producing public records must be consistent with the Public Records Act – “any such non-statutory, non-jurisdictional remedy must comport with the PRA and ensure the expeditious handling of record requests and timely resolution of disputes over whether records are disclosable.” The court also clarified the scope of the “Governor’s correspondence exemption” in the Public Record Act.
San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors v. Monell (Court of Appeal of the State of California, Fourth Appellate District). On July 12, 2022, Court of Appeal issued a nearly 60-page tentative opinion in advance of oral argument, finding two county initiatives adopted by voters on November 3, 2020 imposing a single four-year-term limit on members of the Board of Supervisors and limiting supervisor’s compensation to $5,000 per month, are constitutional and can be imposed by voter initiative.