Open Government
The Office of the Attorney General issued three new publications designed to educate and increase the public's access to their government. The publications provide valuable information about state laws regarding conflicts of interest, public records and open meetings.
These publications provide Californians with the information they need to enforce their right to participate in open government. The guides provide a comprehensive and easy-to-understand overview of state laws and court decisions regarding public access to government. The guides represent the starting point in resolving questions that arise in these specialized areas of the law.
Conflict of Interest
The Conflict of Interest 
[PDF 624 kb / 204 pg] pamphlet summarizes eight different conflict of interest laws in California and discusses the laws themselves and the ways in which they have been interpreted by the courts and by published opinions of the Attorney General. Conflict of interest laws are grounded on the notion that government officials owe paramount loyalty to the public, and that personal or private financial considerations on the part of government officials should not be allowed to enter the decision making process. The purpose of this pamphlet is to assist government officials in complying with California's conflict of interest laws and to assist the public and the news media in understanding these laws so that conflict of interest situations can be monitored and avoided.
Public Records
Summary of the California Public Records Act 2004 [PDF 290 kb / 84 pg] is a booklet prepared by the Attorney General’s Office summarizing the public's rights to government records, procedures surrounding the exercise of these rights and the rights of government agencies to withhold certain types of records. By providing a concise description of the public's right to access government records the publication seeks to increase public and governmental understanding of the law in order to minimize misunderstandings and promote access. You may also want to view the Training Guide on the California Public Records Act [PDF 170 kb / 91 pg], a series of informational slides covering access to government records.
For information on public records in the Attorney General’s Office, see DOJ Public Records Access Policy
Open Meetings
The Handy Guide To Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act [PDF 1.53 mb / 40 pg] summarizes California law governing all "state" boards and commissions. It generally requires these bodies to publicly notice their meetings, prepare agendas, accept public testimony and conduct their meetings in public unless specifically authorized to meet in closed session. This pamphlet was written with the individual board member in mind, and is intended to be an easy "how-to" guide to the law. The Attorney General's 2003 pamphlet, "The Brown Act, Open Meetings for Local Legislative Bodies," [PDF 817 kb / 14 pg] summarizes the open meeting law for local boards and commissions.
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