All requests to inspect any legislative record shall be made to the appropriate Rules Committee of each house of the Legislature or the Joint Rules Committee, except that all requests to inspect any legislative record in the possession of the Auditor General shall be made to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. Such committees shall be considered to have custody of all legislative records and shall be responsible for making all legislative records available for inspection. Such committees shall promptly inform any person whether any legislative record shall be made available for inspection. Such legislative records shall be made available for inspection promptly and without unnecessary delay. Whenever such committee withholds any legislative record from inspection, within four working days of the request to inspect such record, the committee shall justify in writing the withholding of such record by demonstrating that the record in question is exempt under the express provisions of this article or that on the facts of the particular case the public interest served by not making the record public clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record, provided that when the Legislature is not in session, such committee shall furnish such written justification within 10 working days of the request to inspect such record. The Rules Committee of each house, the Joint Rules Committee, and the Joint Legislative Audit Committee shall adopt written guidelines stating the procedures to be followed when making legislative records available for inspection.

The amendment of this section made at the 1981–82 Regular Session of the Legislature does not constitute a change in, but is declaratory of, the existing law.

(Amended by Stats. 1981, Ch. 1168, Sec. 1.)