Nat'l Conference of Black Mayors v. Chico Cmty. Publ'g, Inc.

*575 A requester of public records who successfully litigates against a public agency for disclosure of those records is entitled to reasonable attorney fees under the California *3 Public Records Act 1 (the Act). This case asks us to determine whether the Act also allows for an award of attorney fees to a requester when the requester litigates against an officer of a public agency in a mandamus action the officer initiated to keep the public agency from disclosing records it agreed to disclose. 2 We conclude the answer is no. The Act limits the award of attorney fees to plaintiffs who prevail after "seeking a judicial determination of a public agency's obligation to disclose records in the event the agency denies a request by a member of the public." ( Filarsky v. Superior Court (2002) 28 Cal.4th 419 , 423, 426, 121 Cal.Rptr.2d 844 , 49 P.3d 194 ( Filarsky ); § 6259.) A mandamus action seeking to prevent disclosure of public records does not arise under the Act nor does it seek to achieve the purposes of the Act-to compel a public agency to disclose records it refuses but is obligated to disclose. Accordingly, a requester of public records is not entitled to attorney fees under…