The California Public Records Act was enacted in 1968 and recodified in 2022 by the California Legislature under Government Code Sections 7920 - 7931. The California Legislature declares that access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in the state. Pursuant to Government Code Section 7920.530, "Public records includes any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public's business prepared, owned, used or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form of characteristics."
The Public Records Act provides disclosure of existing identifiable records. The County of Tulare is not required to prepare new records in response to a request, or to compile, or index information or records in a form that does not exist at the time of the request.
Click Here Assessor/Clerk Recorder - Birth, Death, Marriage requests.
Click Here Auditor/Tax Collector - Business License, Property Tax requests.
Click Here for Sheriff's Department requests.
Click Here RMA - Building Permits, Planning and Building, Code Compliance.
Click Here Environmental Health - Water Wells, Septic Systems, Hazard Materials, APN #.
Public Records Act Requests can be submitted to the Clerk of the Board in the following ways, via email, in writing, or verbally.
Email: ClerkoftheBoard@tularecounty.ca.gov
Business location and hours:
2800 W. Burrel Avenue, Visalia, CA 93291
Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
and Fridays, 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
There is no cost for receiving record electronically (e.g., email). However, the County does charge 50 cents for the first page and 10 cents per additional pages (8.5" by 11") when requested to print records. For requests requiring records to be placed on a media device, such as a thumb-drive or CD, the County will assess a fee to cover the actual cost of the media used.
Although you are not required to provide your name, you must provide contact information in order for the responding agency to contact you. The responding agency may contact you to get clarification on your request or to send you the responsive records. You may use a non-identifying contact information (e.g. requester111@yahoo.com).