A specific factual claim that the archive has checked against an identified source record. Supporting pages, attachments, or data should be linked whenever available.
Editorial standards
Editorial Methodology and Source Policy
How the Calaveras Transparency Project verifies, labels, analyzes, and publishes public records without confusing an agency claim with an established fact.
Sources before conclusions. Our aim is to make public records easier to locate and evaluate. A summary is never a substitute for the underlying source; when the two conflict, the original record controls and the summary should be corrected.
Last reviewed: October 13, 2026
Reading the archive
Evidence labels used in reports and request pages
The following labels communicate what a statement establishes and what remains uncertain. A phrase may be accurately quoted from an agency yet still require independent verification.
What an agency, official, or agency representative says. Attribution does not mean the project has independently established the statement as true.
Calculations, comparisons, interpretations, or explanations produced by this project. Assumptions and limits should be disclosed, with inputs linked.
A relevant issue that available records do not settle—for example, a gap in a production, an inconsistent statement, or a response still pending.
Information received from a requester, witness, media source, or other party that has not been substantiated through records sufficient for the stated claim.
A requested type of record that is not present in the published production. This alone does not establish whether the record exists or whether withholding was improper.
Publication and document labels
These labels describe the kind of material, rather than the strength of a factual conclusion.
- Public record
- An official record or agency-released file, published in its original form or in an explicitly identified converted version. A public record may contain errors or incomplete information.
- Official statement
- An attributed policy, response, meeting remark, press release, or other expression from a public agency or identified official.
- Verified fact
- A statement checked against a cited source, with sufficient context to support the precise wording used.
- Analysis
- Project-created interpretation, dataset transformation, calculation, or explanatory context, clearly separated from source material.
- Open question
- A material uncertainty left unresolved by the evidence at the time of publication.
How we handle requests and source records
- Identify the custodian and scope. Record the agency, request text, time period, and types of documents sought.
- Track the correspondence. Record dates of submission, acknowledgement, clarification, extensions, productions, and any final response, when documented.
- Preserve source context. Retain original files where appropriate, including their dates, filenames, formats, source agency, and relationship to the request. Converted, excerpted, or annotated copies are distinguished from originals.
- Review and cross-check. Compare a claim with the responsive record and, where useful, meeting agendas, contracts, invoices, policies, or other independent records.
- Publish with citations. Link reports and timelines back to source documents and identify where a record is unavailable for publication.
A request being marked complete means the documented response stage ended; it does not necessarily mean every category was produced. An agency saying no responsive records is an agency statement about its search, not independent proof that a record never existed.
Where possible, publication includes the specific page, section, line, worksheet, or meeting timestamp that supports a significant factual assertion.
Agency withholdings, redactions, and privacy edits
When an agency withholds material or produces a redacted copy, the archive records the scope and cites its stated reason under the label Agency-cited justification. Quoting a statute is not a finding that the exemption applies correctly. Where an agency lists multiple exemptions without assigning one to particular lines or records, the archive does not invent that assignment.
Material withheld by the agency must not be confused with a privacy redaction applied later by this project. Our own edits should be identified and explained, and original files preserved securely when appropriate. We seek to avoid amplifying irrelevant personal addresses, contact details, identification numbers, medical information, and other sensitive data.
Under the CPRA, reasonably segregable nonexempt material generally remains subject to disclosure. See Government Code § 7922.525. For case-specific legal questions, consult authoritative law rather than treating an archive summary as a legal opinion.
Read the Redactions and Withholdings policy and current log →
Calculated data, visualizations, and AI-assisted work
Derived tables and charts should identify their source files, date ranges, counting methods, filters, assumptions, and known limitations. Counts refer to what is actually published unless specifically described otherwise. When later productions change a dataset, the archive should update affected tables and explain substantive differences.
Automated tools—including AI—may assist with organization, transcription, summarization, drafts, or comparing large files. Generated text is not evidence. Before publication, material factual assertions should be checked against the underlying record, and ambiguity should not be replaced with a guess. Transcripts and extracted text may contain recognition errors and should be checked against the audio, video, or source PDF where important.
Public-interest context and neutrality
The project may investigate spending, procurement, policies, public statements, and accountability questions. Inclusion in an archive is not an allegation of wrongdoing. Contrary records, qualifying context, and competing interpretations should be included where materially relevant. We distinguish documented events from possibilities requiring further inquiry.
Historical records can be superseded. Agency plans, drafts, contracts, and policies are identified by their applicable dates and status rather than assumed to describe the current situation.
Corrections, additions, and transparency
When a source shows a summary to be inaccurate or materially incomplete, the project should correct the page and, for substantive revisions, describe the changed claim, supporting evidence, and date on the Corrections and Revision History page. Routine formatting and accessibility improvements may be recorded in the technical changelog instead.
We invite corrections accompanied by specific sources. To report one, contact the archive with the URL, disputed text, and a copy or link to the relevant record.