Special Fee Shifting Statute: California Public Records Act Requester To Prevent Disclosure Of Public Agency Documents Not Entitled To CPRA Fee Recovery

Maybe, Private Attorney General Fees, Maybe ….

            The Third District, in National Conference of Black Mayors v. Chico Community Publishing, Inc., Case No. C083956 (3d Dist. July 25, 2018) (published), held that a requester of public records litigating against an officer of a public agency to prevent disclosure of public documents by a public agency is not entitled to an award of attorney’s fees under the California Public Records Act fee-shifting provision. In a footnote, the appellate court did indicate that a requester could try fee entitlement under the private attorney general statute, even though this was denied in this same case.