Washington Administrative Code › Title 44 - Attorney General's Office › Chapter 44-14 - Public Records Act-Model rules › Comments on WAC 44-14-040 › Section 44-14-04002 - Obligations of requestors

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(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
				online request form or portal, or using the terms "public records," "public
				disclosure," "FOIA," or "Freedom of Information Act" (the terms commonly used for
				federal records requests), especially in the subject line of an email or letter,
				is recommended. The request should be directed to the agency-designated person to
				receive requests (such as the public records officer) or the agency-designated
				address or submitted through the agency-designated portal for public records
				requests, which should provide an agency with fair notice in most cases. A
				requestor should not submit a "stealth" request, which is buried in another
				document in an attempt to trick the agency into not responding.
(2)
Identifiable record.
A
				requestor must request an "identifiable record" or "class of records" before an
				agency must respond to it.
				RCW
				  42.56.080 and
				42.56.550(1).
An "identifiable record" is one that is existing at the time of
				  the request and which agency staff can reasonably locate. The act does not
				  require agencies to be "mind readers" and to guess what records are being
				  requested.2 The act does not allow a requestor to make
				  "future" or "standing" (ongoing) requests for records not in existence;
				  nonexistent records are not "identifiable."3
A request for all or substantially all records prepared, owned,
				  used or retained by an agency is not a valid request for identifiable records,
				  provided that a request for all records regarding a particular topic or
				  containing a particular keyword or name shall not be considered a request for all
				  of an agency's records.
				  RCW
				    42.56.080(1). A "keyword" must
				  have some meaning that reduces a request from all or substantially all of an
				  agency's records. For example, a request seeking any and all records from the
				  department of ecology which contain the word "ecology" is not a request
				  containing a keyword. The word "ecology" is likely on every agency letterhead,
				  email signature block, notice, order, brochure, form, pleading and virtually
				  every other agency document. A request for all of an agency's emails can
				  encompass substantially all of an agency's records, and such a request contains
				  no keywords. The act does not allow a requestor nor require an agency to search
				  through agency files for records which cannot be reasonably identified or
				  described to the agency.4 It benefits both the
				  requestor and the agency when the request includes terms that are for
				  identifiable records actually sought by the requestor, and which produce
				  meaningful search results by the agency.
However, a requestor is not required to identify the exact
				  record he or she seeks. For example, if a requestor requested an agency's "2001
				  budget," but the agency only had a 2000-2002 budget, the requestor made a request
				  for an identifiable record. 
				  5
An "identifiable record" is not a request for "information" in
				  general. 
				  6 For example, asking "what policies" an
				  agency has for handling discrimination complaints is merely a request for
				  "information."6 A request to inspect or copy an
				  agency's policies and procedures for handling discrimination complaints would be
				  a request for an "identifiable record."
Public records requests are not interrogatories (questions). An
				  agency is not required to answer questions about records, or conduct legal
				  research for a requestor.7 A request for "any law that
				  allows the county to impose taxes on me" is not a request for an identifiable
				  record. Conversely, a request for "all records discussing the passage of this
				  year's tax increase on real property" is a request for an "identifiable
				  record."
When a request uses an inexact phrase such as all records
				  "relating to" a topic (such as "all records relating to the property tax
				  increase"), the agency may interpret the request to be for records which directly
				  and fairly address the topic. When an agency receives a "relating to" or similar
				  request, it should seek clarification of the request from the requestor or
				  explain how the agency is interpreting the requestor's request.
(3)
"Overbroad" requests.
An
				agency cannot "deny a request for identifiable public records based solely on the
				basis that the request is overbroad."RCW
				  42.56.080. However, if such a request is not
				for identifiable records or otherwise is not proper, the request can still be
				denied. When confronted with a request that is unclear, an agency should seek
				clarification.
Notes:
1
W o o d v . L o w
						  e
, 102 Wn. App. 872, 10 P.3d 494 (2000).
2
Bonamy v. City of
						  Seattle
, 92 Wn. App. 403, 410, 960 P.2d 447 (1998), (( ("identifiable
						  record" requirement is satisfied when there is a "reasonable description" of the
						  record "enabling the government employee to locate the requested records.").
3
Limstrom v.
						  Ladenburg
, 136 Wn.2d 595, 604, n.3, 963 P.2d 869 (1998),
appeal
						  after remand
, 110 Wn. App. 133, 39 P.3d 351 (2002);
Sargent v.
						  Seattle Police Dep't
, 16 Wn. App. 1, 260 P.3d 1006 (2011),
aff'd
						  in part, rev'd in part on other grounds
, 179 Wn.2d 376, 314 P.3d 1093
						  (2013) ("We hold that there is no standing request under the PRA.");
Smith v. Okanogan County
, 100 Wn. App.7, 994 P.2d 857 (2000)
						  (agency not required to create a record to respond to a PRA request).
4
Bonamy
, 92 Wn.
						  App. at 409.
5
Violante v. King County
						  Fire Dist. No. 20
, 114 Wn. App. 565, 571, n.4, 59 P.3d 109 (2002).
6
Bonamy,
92 Wn.
						  App. at 409.
7See
Limstrom
,
						  136 Wn.2d at 604, n.3 (act does not require "an agency to go outside its own
						  records and resources to try to identify or locate the record requested.");
Bonamy
, 92 Wn. App. at 409 (act "does not require agencies to
						  research or explain public records, but only to make those records accessible to
						  the public").
Statutory Authority: 2005 c 483 § 4, RCW   42.17.348.
					 06-04-079, §
											44-14-04002, filed 1/31/06, effective
					 3/3/06.