republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20152016/ab-2853.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Public records."
description: "(1) The California Public Records Act requires a public agency, defined to mean any state or local agency, to make its public records available for public inspection and to make copies available upon request and payment of a fee, unless the public records are exempt from disclosure. The act prohibits limitations on access to a public record based upon the purpose for which the public record is being requested if the public record is otherwise subject to disclosure, authorizes public agencies to adopt requirements that allow for faster, more efficient, or greater access to public records, and requires local agencies, except school districts, that voluntarily post public records on an open data Internet Resource, as defined, to post those public records in an open format that meets specified criteria."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "AB 2853"
citation: "California AB 2853 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Public records."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Gatto"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 24
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2016-02-19"
last_action: "2016-09-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/70d40a10-7550-4a0e-8dc7-0d93afee0de4"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2853"
source_hash: "3c0d9a3ed9cb2699a247a563bfe7326b56be9f2980127b3dd3d5c045ed28dbb0"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 2853 (20152016) — Public records.

(1) The California Public Records Act requires a public agency, defined to mean any state or local agency, to make its public records available for public inspection and to make copies available upon request and payment of a fee, unless the public records are exempt from disclosure. The act prohibits limitations on access to a public record based upon the purpose for which the public record is being requested if the public record is otherwise subject to disclosure, authorizes public agencies to adopt requirements that allow for faster, more efficient, or greater access to public records, and requires local agencies, except school districts, that voluntarily post public records on an open data Internet Resource, as defined, to post those public records in an open format that meets specified criteria.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/19/16 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2853&version=20150AB285399INT)
2. **03/18/16 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2853&version=20150AB285398AMD)
3. **04/13/16 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2853&version=20150AB285397AMD)
4. **06/16/16 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2853&version=20150AB285396AMD)
5. **09/09/16 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2853&version=20150AB285394CHP)
6. **AB2853** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2853)
7. **08/23/16 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2853&version=20150AB285395ENR)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading AB2853 Gatto By Liu — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **20–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 2853 GATTO Consent Calendar Second Day — **78–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 2853 GATTO Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **79–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **7–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Gatto — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2016-02-19** Introduced. To print. `introduction`
- **2016-02-21** From printer. May be heard in committee March 22.
- **2016-02-22** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2016-03-17** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2016-03-18** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on JUD. Read second time and amended. `reading-2, amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-03-28** Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2016-04-12** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (April 12). `amendment-introduction, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2016-04-13** Read second time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-04-14** Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee`
- **2016-05-04** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 20. Noes 0.) (May 4). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-05-05** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-05-12** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 4790.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-05-12** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2016-05-19** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2016-06-15** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 14). `amendment-introduction, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2016-06-16** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-08-01** From committee: Be placed on second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage`
- **2016-08-02** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-08-15** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 4966.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-08-16** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 18 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2016-08-22** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 79. Noes 0. Page 6039.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2016-08-29** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2016-09-09** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2016-09-09** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 275, Statutes of 2016.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/70d40a10-7550-4a0e-8dc7-0d93afee0de4`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).