Washington Administrative Code

(1) The (name of agency) (describe services provided by agency). The (name of agency's) central office is located at (describe). The (name of agency) has field offices at (describe, if applicable).(2) Any person wishing to request access to public records of (agency), or seeking …

An agency must publish its public records policies, organizational information, and methods for requestors to obtain public records. RCW 42.56.040(1).1 A state agency must publish its procedures in the Washington Administrative Code and a local agency must prominently display and…

An agency must appoint a public records officer whose responsibility is to serve as a "point of contact" for members of the public seeking public records. RCW 42.56.580(1). The purpose of this requirement is to provide the public with one point of contact within the agency to mak…

(1) Hours for inspection of records. Public records are available for inspection and copying during normal business hours of the (name of agency), (provide hours, e.g., Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding legal holidays). Records must be inspected at the offi…

For most public records, the act uses a three-part test to determine if a record is a "public record." The document must be: A "writing," containing information "relating to the conduct of government" or the performance of any governmental or proprietary function, "prepared, owne…

An agency must make records available for inspection and copying for a minimum of thirty hours per week (except for weeks that include state legal holidays) during the "customary office hours of the agency." RCW 42.56.090. If the agency is very small and does not have customary o…

State and local agencies are required by RCW 42.56.070 to provide an index for certain categories of records. An agency is not required to index every record it creates. Since agencies maintain records in a wide variety of ways, agency indices will also vary. An agency cannot use…

An agency must "protect public records from damage or disorganization." RCW 42.56.100. The secretary of state provides extensive guidance and resources on organizing, inventorying and managing records. See https://www.sos.wa.gov/archives/recordsmanagement/.An agency owns public r…

An agency is not required to retain every record it ever created or used. The state and local records committees approve a general retention schedule for state and local agency records that applies to records that are common to most agencies.1 Individual agencies seek approval fr…

There is no statutorily required format for a valid public records request. RCW 42.56.080(2). Agencies may recommend that requestors submit requests using an agency-provided form or web page. However, a person seeking records must make a "specific request" for "identifiable recor…

(1) Providing "fullest assistance." The (name of agency) is charged by statute with adopting rules which provide for how it will "provide full access to public records," "protect records from damage or disorganization," "prevent excessive interference with other essential functio…

Both requestors and agencies have responsibilities under the act. The public records process can function properly only when both parties perform their respective responsibilities. An agency has a duty to promptly provide access to all nonexempt public records.1 A requestor has a…

(1) Fair notice that request is for public records. A requestor must give an agency fair notice that the request is being made pursuant to the act. Requestors are encouraged to cite or name the act but are not required to do so.1 A request using the agency's request form or onlin…

(1) Similar treatment and purpose of the request. The act provides: "Agencies shall not distinguish among persons requesting records, and such persons shall not be required to provide information as to the purpose for the request" (except to determine if the request is seeking a …

(1) General. An agency may simply provide the records or make them available within the five-business day period of the initial response. When it does so, an agency should also provide the requestor a written cover letter or email briefly describing the records provided and infor…

(1) Obligation of requestor to claim or review records. After the agency notifies the requestor that the records or an installment of them is ready for inspection or copying, the requestor must claim or review the records or the installment. RCW 42.56.120. If the requestor cannot…

(1) Fulfilling request and closing letter. A records request has been fulfilled and can be closed when a requestor has inspected all the requested records, all copies have been provided, a web link has been provided (with assistance from the agency in finding it, if necessary), a…

An agency has no obligation to search for records responsive to a closed request. Sometimes an agency discovers responsive records after a request has been closed. An agency should provide the later-discovered records to the requestor.[Statutory Authority: 2005 c 483 § 4, RCW 42.…

(1) Requesting electronic records. The process for requesting electronic public records is the same as for requesting paper public records.(2) Providing electronic records. When a requestor requests records in an electronic format, the public records officer will provide the none…

The Public Records Act does not distinguish between access to paper and electronic records. Instead, the act explicitly includes electronic records within its coverage. The definition of "public record" includes a "writing," which in turn includes "existing data compilations from…

(1) "Reasonably locatable" electronic records. The act obligates an agency to provide nonexempt "identifiable … records." RCW 42.56.080. An "identifiable record" is essentially one that agency staff can "reasonably locate." WAC 44-14-04002(2). Therefore, a general summary of the …

Technical reasonableness and feasibility can vary from request to request. When a request for electronic records involves technical issues, the best approach is for both parties to confer and cooperatively resolve them. Often a telephone conference will be sufficient. This approa…

When locating the requested records or translating them into the requested format cannot be done without specialized programming, RCW 42.56.120(3) authorizes agencies to assess a customized service charge if the agency estimates that the request would require use of information t…

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provide guidance to parties in litigation on their respective obligations to provide access to, or produce, "electronically stored information." See Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 26 and 34. The obligations of state and local agencies under …

(1) The Public Records Act provides that a number of types of documents are exempt from public inspection and copying. In addition, documents are exempt from disclosure if any "other statute" exempts or prohibits disclosure. Requestors should be aware of the following exemptions,…

An agency must publish and maintain a list of the "other statute" exemptions from disclosure (that is, those exemptions found outside the Public Records Act) that it believes potentially exempt records it holds from disclosure. RCW 42.56.070(2). The list is "for informational pur…

The act and other statutes contain hundreds of exemptions from disclosure and dozens of court cases interpret them. A full treatment of all exemptions is beyond the scope of the model rules. For a discussion of several commonly used exemptions, see these documents on the attorney…

(1) Inspection. There is no fee for inspecting public records, including inspecting records on the (name of agency) website.(2) Actual costs. (If the agency determines it will charge actual costs for copies, it may do so after providing notice and a public hearing.) A statement o…

(1) No fees for costs of locating records or preparing records for inspection or copying. An agency cannot charge a fee for locating public records or for preparing the records for inspection or copying. RCW 42.56.120.1 An agency cannot charge fees for a person to inspect or acce…

The act generally governs copying charges for public records, but several specific statutes govern charges for particular kinds of records. RCW 42.56.130. The following nonexhaustive list provides some examples: RCW 46.52.085 (charges for traffic accident reports), RCW 10.97.100 …

(1) An agency may waive charges pursuant to its rules and regulations. RCW 42.56.120(4).(2) An agency may enter into a contract, memorandum of understanding or other agreement with a requestor that provides an alternative fee arrangement to the charges, or in response to a volumi…

(1) Copying deposit. An agency may charge a deposit of up to ten percent of the estimated copying costs of an entire request, including a customized service charge, before beginning to copy the records. RCW 42.56.120(4). The estimate must be reasonable. An agency can require the …

(1) Petition for internal administrative review of denial of access. Any person who objects to the initial denial or partial denial of a records request may petition in writing (including email) to the public records officer for a review of that decision. The petition shall inclu…

The act requires an agency to "establish mechanisms for the most prompt possible review of decisions denying" records requests. RCW 42.56.520. An agency internal review of a denial need not be elaborate. It could be reviewed by the public records officer's supervisor, or other pe…

The attorney general's office is authorized to review a state agency's claim of exemption and provide a written opinion. RCW 42.56.530. This only applies to state agencies and a claim of exemption. See WAC 44-06-160. A requestor may initiate such a review by sending a request for…

Requestors and agencies are encouraged to resolve public records disputes through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as mediation and arbitration. No mechanisms for formal alternative dispute resolution currently exist in the act but parties are encouraged to resolve …

A full discussion of judicial review is not provided in these comments. RCW 42.56.550 provides for judicial review, including possible penalty awards, and awards of attorneys' fees and costs. RCW 42.56.540 provides for court actions for injunctions from disclosure. For a brief di…

(1) The state auditor's office has the constitutional responsibility for auditing state government and all municipal corporations in Washington state. The administrative office of the state auditor's office and its staff are located at 302 Sid Snyder Ave. S.E., Room 200, Olympia,…

The public records officer for the state auditor's office shall be responsible for responses to requests for public records. Any person wishing to request access to public records of the state auditor's office, or seeking assistance in making such a request should contact the pub…

(1) Hours for inspection of records. Public records are available for inspection and copying by appointment during normal business hours of the state auditor's office, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., excluding legal holidays. Original records must be inspected at t…

(1) Order of response. The public records officer or designee will process requests in the order allowing the most requests to be processed in the most efficient manner.(2) Acknowledging receipt of request. Within five business days of receipt of the request, the public records o…

(1) Requesting electronic records. The process for requesting electronic public records is the same as for requesting paper public records.(2) Providing electronic records. When a requestor requests records in an electronic format, the public records officer will provide the none…

(1) The Public Records Act provides that a number of types of records are exempt from public inspection and copying. In addition, records are exempt from disclosure if any "other statute" exempts or prohibits disclosure. Requestors should be aware of the following exemptions, out…

(1) Copying fees - Payments. The following copy fees and payment procedures apply to requests to the office under chapter 42.56 RCW and received on or after July 23, 2017.(2) Pursuant to RCW 42.56.120 (2)(b), the office is not calculating all actual costs for copying records beca…

(1) Petition for internal administrative review of denial of access. Any person who objects to the initial denial or partial denial of a records request may petition in writing (including email) to the public records officer for a review of that decision. The petition shall inclu…

The state auditor's office has reviewed its authorized activities and found them all to be exempt pursuant to Title 197 WAC. This section is adopted for compliance with the State Environmental Policy Act, chapter 43.21C RCW.[Statutory Authority: RCW 42.56.070, 43.21C.120, and 43.…

"Local government" includes any municipal corporation, taxing district, or other governmental unit subject to audit by the state auditor's office, acting through its legally constituted legislative body or its designee."Local government association" means any generally recognized…

A local government which disagrees with a bill for services issued to it shall notify the director of audit in writing within fourteen days after receipt of the bill. The writing shall include the local government's reasons for challenging the bill and any other information the l…

The director of audit shall review any bill challenged by a local government, together with the reasons for the challenge. Within 10 days of receipt of notification from the local government, the director of audit shall respond in writing to the local government, either reaffirmi…

Within ten days after receiving the director of audit's written response, the local government may appeal the matter to the internal appeals board by writing directed to the director of audit. The internal appeals board shall consist of the chief of staff and two deputy state aud…