California Public Records Act: elected or appointed officials.

Assembly Member Pacheco's expansion of California's Public Records Act adds several categories of officials whose personal information would be exempt from public disclosure, including retired judges, court commissioners, federal defenders, and court-appointed children's counsel in family proceedings.

The measure modifies existing privacy protections that shield personal details like home addresses and phone numbers of public officials from release under public records requests. According to the bill's findings, these protections aim to prevent harassment and targeted violence against officials and their families. The legislation maintains current criminal penalties for unauthorized disclosure of protected information while extending these safeguards to the newly covered positions.

Local agencies must implement these expanded privacy protections without state reimbursement, as the changes relate to criminal law modifications that fall outside California's constitutional requirements for state funding of local mandates. The bill's provisions affect how agencies process and respond to public records requests involving personal information of both current and former officials in specified roles.