Public Records Act Requests

Many of Sacramento State's records are available for public inspection under the California Public Records Act (California Government Code § 6250 et seq.).

Public Records Act requests should be submitted to the Public Records Coordinator orally or in writing. For clarity purposes, the University encourages written requests. Please submit written requests for public records to ensure timely processing.

Requests for public records must reasonably describe identifiable records and must be focused, specific, and clear enough for the University to conduct a reasonable search for the records sought. The Public Records Act does not require the University to answer questions or to create documents that do not already exist.

Following the receipt of a Public Records Act request, the University will initiate a reasonable search for the requested records and will notify the requester within 10 days whether the request in whole or in part seeks copies of disclosable records. Disclosable records responsive to the request will be made available to the requester within a reasonable amount of time. Please be aware that the law exempts certain records from public disclosure. The University may charge the direct cost of duplication for copies, $0.20 per page (California Government Code §6253(b)).

Questions regarding this process may be directed to the Public Records Coordinator.

Service of Subpoenas & Records Requests

Subpoenas and records requests for University records or for the appearance of a University employee as a witness must be personally served and accompanied by any requisite fees. We are unable to respond to subpoenas and records requests that are sent via fax or mail.

For University Records: Subpoenas and records requests for University records should be addressed to the Custodian of Records for California State University, Sacramento and served to Auditing and Consulting Services, Sacramento Hall, Suite 259 (located on the California State University, Sacramento campus at 6000 J Street, Sacramento, California 95819). Process servers attempting to serve a subpoena for University records elsewhere on campus will be sent to this office.

For Appearance of a University Employee: As a general rule, subpoenas addressed to a particular person requesting personal appearance to testify as a witness can only be accepted by that person. However, in the following circumstances, service of an appearance subpoena may be achieved by delivering two copies of the subpoena to Auditing and Consulting Services, Sacramento Hall, Suite 259 (located on the California State University, Sacramento campus at 6000 J Street, Sacramento, California 95819):

• When a University peace officer is being subpoenaed to testify about an event or transaction that he or she witnessed or investigated in his or her role as a peace officer.
• When a University employee is being subpoenaed to testify about expertise gained during the course of his or her duties.
• University employees who are being subpoenaed to testify about something they perceived while at work or personal matters must be individually served.

For questions about the service of subpoenas at California State University, Sacramento or to make an appointment for service or records pick up, please call (916) 278-7968 during business hours.

Service of Lawsuits

Against the University: A lawsuit (i.e., a summons and complaint) that names the California State University, the CSU Board of Trustees, and/or an individual CSU campus as a defendant must be served at the California State University’s Office of General Counsel, located at 401 Golden Shore, Fourth Floor, in Long Beach, California. California State University, Sacramento employees do not have the authority to accept service of such lawsuits. Employees who are approached by a process server attempting to serve a lawsuit upon the University will not accept service and will instead direct the process server to the Office of General Counsel.

Against an Individually Named Defendant: Individually named defendants in a lawsuit may be served at their work location on campus. If an individually named defendant is away from his or her work location when service is attempted, the process server will be advised to return at another time.

Compliance Contacts

Kristin Weigle Roberts
Director of Auditing & Consulting Services
Sacramento Hall 259G
(916) 278-7439

Mashariki Lawson-Cook
Public Records Coordinator
Sacramento Hall 259F
(916) 278-7968

Office of General Counsel Website