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Senate Bill 827 tucked a small requirement inside a much bigger training mandate. If your California local agency has a website, you had to post clear instructions telling the public how to request training records. The deadline was July 1, 2026.
It's a short task that's easy to miss. In this article we cover what the law actually asks for, what to do if you're past the date, and include a posting template you can copy and adapt.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- What does SB 827 require agencies to post online?
- The July 1, 2026 deadline has passed. What now?
- What your SB 827 posting must include
- Copy-and-paste SB 827 posting template
- What other California agencies have published
- Does the posting cover fiscal training records too?
- How long you must keep SB 827 training records
- Are SB 827 training records public?
- How to get ready for a records request
- FAQs
Key takeaways
- If your agency has a website, you were required to post instructions for requesting training records by July 1, 2026. If yours isn't live, publish it now.
- You're posting instructions, not the records themselves.
- Keep ethics and fiscal training records for at least five years. Each record needs the completion date and the training provider.
- These records are public under the California Public Records Act. Privacy isn't a valid reason to withhold them.
- You've got 10 days to determine and notify, extendable by up to 14 days in unusual circumstances. Producing the records comes promptly after that.
- Name an owner for the archive and run one dry test before a real request shows up.
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What does SB 827 require agencies to post online?
If your local agency has a website, SB 827 says you need to post clear instructions and contact information explaining how the public can request training records. That requirement kicked in July 1, 2026, and it lives in Government Code section 53235.2, subdivision (c).
Two details in that sentence matter more than they look.
First, it only applies to agencies that maintain a website. If yours doesn't have one, this particular posting duty doesn't apply. Your recordkeeping and disclosure obligations still do.
Second, you're posting instructions, not records. An earlier draft of SB 827 would've required agencies to publish the training records themselves on a two-year cycle. The version that actually became law is lighter: just tell people how to ask. You're publishing a request pathway, not a roster.
So the deliverable is a page, or a section of an existing transparency page, that answers one question for a member of the public: how do I get these training records from you?
The July 1, 2026 deadline has passed. What now?
If your posting isn't live, the fastest fix is to put a compliant page up today using the template in section 4 below. A posting that goes live late is still better than one that goes live perfect two weeks from now. You can tighten the wording next week.
Once the page is up, handle the paperwork behind it:
- Confirm someone owns the training records inbox and can respond to requests
- Check that your five-year archive exists and is findable
- Note the publication date in your compliance file so you've got a record of when you came into compliance
- Add the page to whatever review cycle covers your other transparency postings
The clock's been running. Your real compliance exposure? A records request landing before your page does.
What your SB 827 posting must include
The statute asks for two things: clear instructions and contact information. It doesn't prescribe a format, which gives you room. In practice, a posting covers five things:
- What records you hold: Say plainly that you maintain ethics and fiscal training records for your local agency officials.
- How to submit a request: List the methods you actually accept: email address, mailing address, in-person location and hours, online portal if you have one.
- What a requester should include: Name, contact information, and enough of a description to let you find the right records.
- What happens next: The response timeline under the California Public Records Act, so nobody's left wondering.
- Who to contact with questions: A name or title, a phone number, an email address.
Skip the statutory recitations. The audience for this page is a resident or a reporter — not a lawyer. Write it the way you'd explain it if someone walked into your office and asked.
Copy-and-paste SB 827 posting template
Replace everything in brackets with your agency's details. If you don't actually monitor a channel, don't list it. An unmonitored email address on a compliance page creates a problem, not a solution.
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Public Access to Ethics and Fiscal Training Records [Agency Name] maintains records of the ethics training and the fiscal and financial training completed by our local agency officials, as required by California Government Code sections 53235.2 and 53238 and following. These records show the date each official completed the training and the entity that provided it. We keep them for at least five years. These records are public records under the California Public Records Act. How to request copies Email: [records@youragency.gov] What to include in your request
What happens after you submit a request We'll respond in writing within 10 days to let you know whether we have records that match your request. In unusual circumstances, we may extend that period by up to 14 days and will notify you in writing if we do. Once we confirm the records exist, we'll make them available promptly. Questions [Name and title], [phone], [email] Last updated: [date] |
Before you publish, check these four things
- Every email address and phone number on the page is monitored by a real person
- The page is reachable in two clicks or fewer from your homepage, ideally from your existing transparency or public records section
- The page title includes the words "training records" so it shows up in your own site search
- Your records custodian knows the page exists and knows where the underlying records live
What other California agencies have published
If a live example helps more than a template, a handful of agencies published their pages in the first half of 2026. Three are worth a look:
- El Dorado County set up a dedicated SB 827 training records request page under Human Resources.
- West Basin Municipal Water District folded its posting into a broader mandatory transparency and compliance training page.
- Westlands Water District published a standalone page titled "Public Access to Ethics and Fiscal Training Records."
The pattern across all three is worth copying: short page, plain heading, request methods listed as actual contact details rather than a general contact form. None of them try to explain the statute. They just answer the question.
The City of San Diego also published a memorandum of law analyzing the requirement, which is useful if your counsel wants to see how another agency reasoned through the scope.
Does the posting cover fiscal training records too?
This is the question most agencies get stuck on, and it's worth getting right.
The express posting requirement sits in Government Code section 53235.2, the ethics training records section, and it refers to requesting "the records required by this section." SB 827 created the fiscal and financial training requirement in a separate article starting at section 53238, with its own recordkeeping and retention rules.
So technically, the statute only tells you to post about ethics training records. But here's the thing: fiscal training records are public records under the California Public Records Act no matter what. Someone can request them whether you've published a posting about them or not.
For nearly every agency, the smart move is to cover both in one posting. It's simpler for your staff, simpler for requesters, and doesn't expose you to anything. One page, both training types, done.
If your agency wants to draw a finer line, that's a conversation for your counsel rather than a blog post.
How long you must keep SB 827 training records
Five years minimum, starting from when the official finishes the training. That applies to both ethics records and fiscal training records.
Each record needs to capture two things:
- The date the official completed the training
- The entity that provided it
A certificate sitting in someone's inbox is technically a record, but it's not a retrievable one. When that person leaves, the record walks out the door with them. The training recordkeeping is on the agency, not the individual.
One detail to note: an official who serves more than one local agency completes the training once, but has to give proof of participation to every agency they serve. That means your five-year archive needs to hold their certificate even if your agency wasn't the one that provided the training.1
→Read: How to Track SB 827 Training Records for Five Years
Are SB 827 training records public?
Yes. SB 827 says it plainly: these records are public records subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act. You can't withhold a training certificate on privacy grounds.
The response timeline is where agencies most often get the details wrong, so let's be precise. Under Government Code section 7922.535:
- You've got 10 days from receiving a request to determine whether you hold responsive records and notify the requester of that determination
- If you do hold matching records, you also need to state the estimated date and time they'll be available
- In unusual circumstances, you can extend the determination period by up to 14 additional days with written notice
- Producing the actual records happens promptly after that — not necessarily within the original 10 days
Here's the common misread: people think the 10 days is a deadline to hand over documents. It's not. It's a deadline to answer the question: do we have what you're asking for, and when can you expect it? Getting that distinction right in your posting saves you a follow-up email on every single request.
How to get ready for a records request
The failure mode here is organizational. In most agencies, the person who fields records requests and the person who manages training documentation sit in different departments. They've probably never talked about this.
Five steps close that gap:
- Name an owner for the five-year training archive by title, not by person, so it survives turnover.
- Create one central location for SB 827 documentation, digital or physical. Put everything there.
- Tell your records custodian and your clerk where it is. In writing.
- Add training records to whatever retention schedule already protects your other five-year documents, so nothing gets swept up in a routine purge.
- Run a dry test. Have someone submit a request and see how long it actually takes to produce a certificate.
That last step is the one worth actually doing. A system that works on paper and takes four days to produce one certificate is a system you want to find out about before a reporter does.
If your agency is tracking completions across a spreadsheet and a shared drive, this is usually the point where a learning management system (LMS) starts paying for itself. An LMS timestamps training completions, stores training certificates for each learner, and produces the completion date-and-provider pair the statute asks for — all on demand.
Frequently asked questions
What does SB 827 require agencies to post on their websites?
If your California local agency has a website, you need to post clear instructions and contact information explaining how members of the public can request training records. That means listing your request methods, what a requester should include, the response timeline, and who to contact with questions.
When was the SB 827 website posting deadline?
July 1, 2026. It's in Government Code section 53235.2, subdivision (c). If you haven't posted yet, don't wait — the obligation doesn't pause while you catch up.
What if my agency doesn't have a website?
The posting requirement applies to agencies that maintain an internet website. If yours doesn't have one, this specific duty doesn't apply. But your obligations to maintain training records for five years and disclose them under the California Public Records Act still do.
Do we have to publish the training records themselves?
No. An earlier draft of SB 827 would've required agencies to publish completion records on a recurring cycle. The enacted version only requires instructions and contact information for requesting them.
How long must agencies keep SB 827 training records?
At least five years after the official finishes the training. Each record needs to capture the date the official completed the requirement and the entity that provided it.
Are SB 827 training records public?
Yes. SB 827 states that these records are public records subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act. Agencies can't withhold them on privacy grounds and must respond to a written request within 10 days.
What happens if an official serves more than one agency?
They complete the training once but need to provide proof of participation to every agency they serve. Each of those agencies keeps a copy in its own five-year archive.
Need SB 827 training for your officials?
Once your posting is live, the next question is usually how you're going to get everyone trained — and tracked. Vubiz offers two SB 827 training courses built for California local agency officials, both self-paced and available on demand so new officials can start the day they're appointed. Get a quote today!
Sources
- California Government Code section 53235.2 (SB 827 text) — leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
- California Government Code section 7922.535 (CPRA response timeline) — codes.findlaw.com
- El Dorado County — SB 827 training records requests — eldoradocounty.ca.gov
- West Basin Municipal Water District — mandatory transparency and compliance training — westbasinca.gov
- Walnut Valley Water District — public access to ethics and fiscal training records — wwd.ca.gov
- City of San Diego — memorandum of law MS-2026-3 — docs.sandiego.gov
