§ 1985.4.Application of procedures in § 1985.3; subpoena duces tecum for records exempt

Section 1985.3 protects a consumer's records held by private custodians like banks and hospitals, and this section carries that same protection over to comparable records sitting in government files. It applies whenever a subpoena duces tecum seeks records containing personal information, as the Civil Code defines that term, that a state or local agency holds and that would otherwise be exempt from public disclosure under the Public Records Act.

To make the borrowed procedure work in this different setting, the section relabels the players: the state or local agency stands in as the witness, and the consumer is any employee of that agency, or any other natural person whose exempt personal information is being sought. Everything else, the advance notice, the privacy warning, the objection and motion-to-quash mechanics, follows Section 1985.3 unchanged. The section draws one clear boundary, however: it has nothing to do with personnel records as the Penal Code defines them, which are handled under their own separate rules.