The California Public Records Act (PRA) gives every person the right to access public records in the physical custody of the Secretary of State unless the records are exempt from disclosure by law. (Government Code section 7920.530(a)).
The Secretary of State would only have records relating to Secretary of State duties or that have been previously transferred to the State Archives for historical purposes. Secretary of State duty areas include:
The Secretary of State does not oversee the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and does not have duties related to driver licenses, vehicle registration, and other duties performed by the DMV. In addition, the Secretary of State is only able to provide records related to our office and we are not the contact agency for records held by other agencies that have not been transferred to the State Archives due to applicable criteria including age or historical significance.
Many records of the Secretary of State are already available online. Requesting a record through a public records act request that is already available online will result in delays in obtaining the record, as you will be redirected to the website where the record is available. (Government Code section 7922.545(a)). In addition, a lot of records that are not available online can be requested through an existing order form or process, which is often faster and more convenient than requesting the records as a public records act request. To expedite your request, please ensure that the record you are seeking cannot otherwise be obtained or requested from the Secretary of State outside of a public records act request. Some common examples are provided below.
Certified copies, certificates of status and plain copies of business entity (corporations, limited liability companies and limited partnerships) records are available on the bizfile Online portal.
To order certified copies of historical business entity records and other business entity types not available online, submit a Business Entities Records - Order Form (PDF).
Please note that the Secretary of State does not collect ownership information for business entities and would not have records of this information.
If you are looking for historical records at the California State Archives please use the State Archives Research Form for faster service.
In addition, numerous public records, such as Agency reports on a number of the Agency's programs, or California Archives digital collections and exhibits, are posted on the Secretary of State website.
To obtain a copy of a Surety Bond on file for an individual practicing one of these professions, submit a Special Filings Order Form (PDF).
Note: The Secretary of State does not have bond information for any other professions. If you are seeking a copy of a bond for a California commissioned Notary Public, please contact the county clerk’s office where the notary public is commissioned.
In addition to providing assistance to individuals who file campaign and lobbying disclosure statements and otherwise must comply with provisions of California's Political Reform Act, the Secretary of State's Political Reform Division makes this information available to the public in a variety of ways.
Campaign registration and disclosure activity can be viewed on our Campaign Activity website and/or the Power Search website.
Lobbying registration and disclosure activity can be viewed on our Lobbying Activity website. Go to the Lobbying Directory (PDF) to download or view the lobbying directory.
Most records can be accessed electronically on the Cal-Access website. Printouts or custom data exports may be requested by following the instructions found on our Data Processing Service Request web page.
National Voter Registration Act Reports / California's Election Administration and Voting Survey
For public records filed with the Secretary of State's office that are not otherwise noted above, submit the PRA Request Form.