Question 1

Will a California state agency accept a faxed document?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Offices like the Department of General Services and the Governor's Office use fax for permit applications, public records requests, regulatory filings, and interagency correspondence. Each Send FAX Mail transmission carries a dated confirmation, which is what staff expect for an official submission.

Question 2

How does fax fit California Public Records Act obligations?

Accepted Answer

A fax involving a state agency is generally a disclosable record under the CPRA and must be kept on the Government Code retention schedule. Send FAX Mail stores the complete transmission log for each send, so the retention and audit duties the Department of General Services oversees are covered without paper storage.

Question 3

Can the Secretary of State's faxed filings go through this?

Accepted Answer

Yes. For the business and UCC transactions the Secretary of State accepts by fax, you can send from email and keep the timestamped confirmation in the matter file. Incoming responses arrive as searchable PDFs rather than printouts.

Question 4

What does it cost a California government office?

Accepted Answer

Plans start at $12.99 a month, with volume plans for larger agencies. Selecting a fax number is free, and there are no per-page charges — an agency that outgrows its monthly allowance moves to a higher plan — which costs far less than running physical machines and dedicated lines across multiple offices. A 7-day free trial lets a department evaluate it first.

Online Fax for California Government Agencies

Regulations & Compliance

Key Institutions

Government Fax in California — FAQ

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