ARTICLE 6. Distribution of State Publications [14900. - 14912.]

Cal. Government Code - GOV 6.

in effect

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 14900. Section 14900.

(a) It is the policy of the State of California to make freely available to its inhabitants all state publications. (b) If a state agency proposes a regulation that incorporates by reference any publication, including, but not limited to, international or state standards, two copies of the referenced publication shall, if practicable, be deposited by the agency at the California State Library upon adoption of those regulations. (c) State publications in physical format shall be made freely available to the public by distribution to libraries throughout the state, subject to the assumption by those libraries of the responsibilities of keeping the documents readily accessible for use, and of rendering assistance in their use to qualified patrons without charge.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 14901. Section 14901.

(a) (1) To the end that the policy specified in Section 14900 may be effectively carried out, subject to availability of the necessary resources, the California State Library may create a digital repository and delivery system to maintain and preserve copies of publications in electronic format for ready access to the public. Each state agency may provide digital publications to the California State Library in an appropriate electronic format as specified by the California State Library. (2) The California State Library shall determine the appropriate electronic format and may consult with the State Archivist. At a minimum, the electronic format shall be a machine readable format. (b) Two copies of each state publication, in physical or electronic format, as selected by the State Archivist shall be filed with the State Archivist by the State Printer or the department, commission, or other agency concerned. The cost of printing, publishing, and distributing the copies shall be fixed and charged pursuant to Section 14866. (c) In order to maintain maximum transparency and accessibility, complete and selective repository libraries shall maintain paper copies previously distributed through this article until these legacy paper materials can be digitized. (d) Publications printed in physical format or that have not been submitted to the California State Library pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be printed in a sufficient number of copies of each state publication as determined by the State Librarian in accordance with this section and Sections 14903, 14904, and 14907, not to exceed 350, and forwarded to the California State Library. The cost of printing, publishing, and distributing the copies shall be fixed and charted pursuant to Section 14866. (e) When physical printing of a publication ends, the distribution of copies to the complete and selective repository libraries shall end.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 14902. Section 14902.

(a) For purposes of this article, “state publication” or “publication” includes any document, compilation, journal, law, resolution, Blue Book, statute, code, register, pamphlet, list, book, report, memorandum, hearing, legislative bill, leaflet, order, regulation, directory, periodical, or magazine, in physical or electronic format, issued by the state, the Legislature, constitutional officers, or any department, commission, or other agency thereof or prepared for the state by a private individual or organization and issued in print for access by the public. For purposes of this section, “print” includes either physical or electronic format. The publications of the University of California, however, and intraoffice or interoffice publications and forms are not state publications for purposes of this article. (b) Publications prepared by an officer or employee of the state as part of the person’s official duties shall be placed in the public domain. (c) Documents in the public domain can generally be reprinted without legal restriction. However, state government publications may contain copyrighted material that was used with the permission of the copyright owner. Publication in a government document does not authorize any use or appropriation of the copyrighted material without consent of the owner.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 14903. Section 14903.

In addition to the required distributions set forth in Section 14901, the agreed-upon number of each publication printed by the State Printer, including the legislative bills, daily journals, and daily or weekly histories, shall be forwarded by the State Printer to the California State Library at Sacramento, to the University of California libraries at Berkeley and Los Angeles, and to the California State University, to be allocated among the libraries of the California State University as directed by the Trustees of the California State University.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 14904. Section 14904.

In addition to the required distributions set forth in Section 14901, publications in any format not printed by the State Printer shall be distributed by the issuing department, commission, or other agency as soon as practicable after completion, first to all “complete depositories,” and second to “selective depositories,” designated by the California State Library.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 14905. Section 14905.

To be classified as a “complete depository” or as a “selective depository” of physical materials, a library must contract with the California State Library to provide adequate facilities for the storage and use of the publications, and must agree to render reasonable service without charge to qualified patrons in the use of the publications. A library designated as a “complete depository” shall be sent one copy of every state publication in a physical format, while a library designated as a “selective depository” shall be sent one copy of each publication existing in physical format from only the subset of issuing agencies the library selected or one copy of each publication existing in physical format of the publication type selected by the library.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 14906. Section 14906.

Any municipal or county free library, any state college or state university library, the library of any incorporated college or university in this state, the library of any public community college in this state, and the California State Library may contract as provided in this article. Applications are to be considered in the order of their receipt by the California State Library.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 14907. Section 14907.

Upon application, county law libraries, the law libraries of any law school approved by the State Bar of California, the Supreme Court Library, the law libraries of the courts of appeal, and the law libraries of the Department of Justice and the law library of the Continuing Education of the Bar of the University of California Extension may contract as provided in Section 14905 to become a selective or complete depository library.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 14908. Section 14908.

Because of the specialized service rendered the citizens of this state through assistance in the administration of justice, proximity to another depository library shall be disregarded in the selection of a law library as a depository of legal materials.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 14909. Section 14909.

Maintenance of basic general documents shall not be required of law library depositories, but basic legal documents shall be maintained by them. Such basic legal documents shall include legislative bills, legislative committee hearings and reports, legislative journals, statutes, administrative reports, California Administrative Code and Register, annual reports of state agencies and other legal materials published by the state, where obtainable through the agency preparing same.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 14910. Section 14910.

To facilitate the distribution of state publications, the California State Library shall maintain information about state publications issued and deposited with the library on the California State Library internet website. All state departments, commissions, and other agencies shall, upon request, supply information regarding the respective agency’s publications to the California State Library.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 14911. Section 14911.

If any state agency maintains a mailing list of public officials or other persons to whom publications or other printed matter is sent without charge, the state agency shall correct its mailing list and verify its accuracy at least once each year.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 14912. Section 14912.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the number of copies of statutes distributed to an authorized recipient shall not exceed the number requested by such recipient, or the number authorized by this article, whichever is the lesser.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026