Washington Administrative Code › Title 44 - Attorney General's Office › Chapter 44-14 - Public Records Act-Model rules › Comments to WAC 44-14-010 › Section 44-14-01001 - Scope of coverage of Public Records Act

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
The act applies to an "agency."RCW
				    42.56.070(1). "'Agency'
				  includes all state agencies and all local agencies. 'State agency' includes every
				  state office, department, division, bureau, board, commission, or other state
				  agency. 'Local agency' includes every county, city, town, municipal corporation,
				  quasi-municipal corporation, or special purpose district, or any office,
				  department, division, bureau, board, commission, or agency thereof, or other
				  local public agency."RCW
				    42.56.010(1).
Court records, judges' files, and the records of judicial
				  branch agencies are not subject to the act.1 Access to
				  these records is governed by court rules and common law. The model rules,
				  therefore, do not address access to court or judicial branch records.
An entity which is not an "agency" can still be subject to the
				  act when it is the functional equivalent of an agency. Courts have applied a
				  four-factor, case-by-case test. The factors are:
(1) Whether the entity performs a government
				function;
(2) The level of government
				funding;
(3) The extent of government
				involvement or regulation; and
(4)
				Whether the entity was created by the government.2
Some agencies, most notably counties, are a collection of
				  separate quasi-autonomous departments which are governed by different elected
				  officials (such as a county assessor and prosecuting attorney). The act includes
				  a county "office" as an agency.
				  RCW
				    42.56.010(1). However, the act
				  also includes the county as a whole as an "agency" subject to the act.
Id
. (local agency includes every county and local office).
				  Therefore, some counties may have one public records officer for the entire
				  county; others may have public records officers for each county official or
				  department. The act does not require a public agency that has a records request
				  directed to it to coordinate its response with other public agencies; however,
				  for example, if a request is directed to an entire county, then coordination in
				  some manner among county offices or departments may be
				  necessary.3 Regardless, public records officers must
				  be publicly identified.
				  RCW   42.56.580(2) and
				  (3)   (agency's public records officer must
				  "oversee the agency's compliance" with act).
Notes:
1
Nast v. Michels
,
						  107 Wn.2d 300, 730 P.2d 54 (1986);
W e s t v . Washington State Assoc. of
						  District and Municipal Court Judges
, 190 Wn. App. 931, 361 P.3d 210
						  (2015). See the courts' General Rule 31 and 31.1 regarding access to court
						  records.
2
Telford v. Thurston
						  County Bd. of Comm'rs
, 95 Wn. App. 149, 162, 974 P.2d 886 (1999);
Fortgang v. Woodland Park Zoo
, 187 Wn.2d 509, 387 P.3d 690
						  (2017). See also Op. Att'y Gen. 2 (2002) and Op. Att'y Gen. 5 (1991).
3
Koenig v. Pierce
						  County
, 151 Wn. App. 221, 211 P.3d 423 (2009).
Statutory Authority: 2005 c 483 § 4, RCW   42.17.348.
					 06-04-079, §
											44-14-01001, filed 1/31/06, effective
					 3/3/06.