Over more than a decade of reporting, Davis brought sustained attention to a crisis that county officials would rather have kept quiet: preventable deaths inside San Diego County jails. Her investigations, particularly the landmark “Dying Behind Bars” series, exposed systemic failures in inmate care and safety. That reporting didn’t just win journalism awards — it changed policy and pushed state lawmakers to act.

Davis also stood her ground when the county tried to silence her sources. In 2017, after the widow of a man who died in county custody filed a lawsuit against the San Diego Sheriff’s Office, the agency responded not by addressing what had happened, but by subpoenaing Davis’s notes, interviews and confidential sources. It was a striking move: the same office that had long insisted it had no knowledge of the deep problems in its jails — despite years of Davis’s published findings — sought to unmask the very sources who had exposed those problems.

Davis refused to comply. Press freedom advocates rallied behind her, and a judge ultimately issued a stay blocking the subpoena.

Her example is worth remembering now, as Sacramento debates Assembly Bill 1821, legislation that would alter provisions of the California Public Records Act. The bill’s author, Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco, a Downey Democrat, says her goal is to cut down on burdensome or commercially motivated records requests. After significant public pushback, some of the bill’s more troubling provisions have already been removed.

Still, what remains is cause for concern. The bill would allow public agencies 10 calendar days — rather than the current 10 business days — to respond to records requests, along with the ability to seek extensions of up to 14 additional business days. For journalists, advocacy groups and grieving families seeking information about a loved one’s death in custody, those extra days can mean the difference between accountability and silence.

Earlier versions of the bill went further, proposing fees as high as $66 an hour for processing certain requests, giving courts authority to evaluate a requester’s “malicious intent,” and creating new grounds for agencies to deny requests altogether. Those measures were stripped out after public outcry, but the legislative groundwork for reintroducing them remains in place.

As a retired 35-year veteran of the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, I’ve seen firsthand how institutions respond when faced with public scrutiny — and how carefully they weigh the cost of transparency against the comfort of secrecy. Since retiring, I’ve filed numerous public records requests as part of my accountability work, and I’ve watched agencies use every tool available — delayed responses, questionable extensions, sweeping claims of privilege — to slow the release of information the public is entitled to see.

Kelly Davis’s reporting on jail deaths, which began in 2013, reshaped how I understood a system I thought I knew well. She asked the questions no one else was asking. She filed the records requests no one else bothered to file. She built, piece by piece, the body of evidence that eventually forced state lawmakers to respond.

None of that would have been possible without the legal protections guaranteed by the California Public Records Act. If those protections are weakened — even gradually, even with good intentions — the next Kelly Davis may never obtain the documents needed to expose the next hidden crisis.

It’s also worth noting that public records requests have risen nearly 50% over the past three years, according to the California State Association of Counties. That increase shouldn’t be viewed as evidence of abuse. It’s evidence that democracy is functioning as it should — with citizens and journalists alike demanding accountability from the institutions meant to serve them.

Kelly Davis spent her career proving why that right matters. Her legacy is a clear argument for preserving, not weakening, the public’s access to the truth.

Original source: CalMatters

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