While there are a variety of public records request denials, they generally fall under three main categories:
1. “No responsive records”
When an agency responds with “no responsive records”, it can mean that the records clerk conducted a search based on the parameters requested in the public records letter and did not find anything. This can be both a true and a false conclusion.
What to do: further refine the public records request parameters, for example, asking for different documents, submit an appeal or accept the “no” and call it a day.
2. Personnel information
More often than not, this excuse surfaces with investigatory proceedings where various police officer bill of rights laws and aggressive police unions have constructed broad walls against disclosure. In California, a few new laws have cracked through this slightly – at least as far as sustained complaints – but nonetheless having an agency tell you that your request can’t be filled because of personnel confidentiality is not unusual.
What to do: Your option is to either re-calibrate your request if it is possible to request records that don’t directly impact personnel, or to appeal the denial if the denial appears to be in excess of what the law states.
3. National Security
Surveillance is often done in secret and oftentimes the powers that be want to keep it that way. National security denials, while more common on the federal level, are not unheard of at the state and local levels. The national security claim is that by providing you with the records you ask for will compromise public safety.
What to do: National security denials can be appealed, but will generally be upheld. So the meaningful way to fight a national security denial is through court where an agency is forced to prove to a judge that fulfilling your records request does actually threaten national security.