Opinion ID: 2354141
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Prevailing party under the PRA

Text: ¶ 35 The Court of Appeals held that because the Alliance had the allegedly responsive documents to Item #2 at the time the suit was filed, it could not be a prevailing party regarding that item since the suit was not reasonably necessary to cause the disclosure. As discussed above, a party prevailing against an agency in a PRA action may be awarded costs and attorney fees, and may be awarded daily penalties at the discretion of the trial court. RCW 42.56.550(4). But contrary to the Court of Appeals' holding, no causation requirement exists to be a prevailing party in a PRA action. Spokane Research, 155 Wash.2d at 103, 117 P.3d 1117. In Spokane Research, we explained, Rather, the prevailing relates to the legal question of whether the records should have been disclosed on request. Subsequent events do not affect the wrongfulness of the agency's initial action to withhold the records if the records were wrongfully withheld at that time. Penalties may be properly assessed for the time between the request and the disclosure, even if the disclosure occurs for reasons unrelated to the lawsuit. Spokane Research, 155 Wash.2d at 103-04, 117 P.3d 1117 (emphasis added). We have additionally held that once a trial court finds an agency violated the PRA, daily penalties are mandatory, but the amount is subject to the trial court's discretion. Yousoufian v. Office of King County Exec., 152 Wash.2d 421, 433, 98 P.3d 463 (2004). A violation therefore results in a remedy, with no discussion of what causes the final disclosure, such as when suit was filed. ¶ 36 The Court of Appeals reached the opposite result by relying on its previous decision in Daines v. Spokane County, 111 Wash.App. 342, 44 P.3d 909 (2002). [15] The Daines court held that a party could not be prevailing and entitled to a remedy under the PRA when it had the record in its possession and knew of that fact at the time of filing, because the action was not necessary to compel disclosure. The Daines court, in turn, relied on Coalition on Government Spying v. King County Department of Public Safety, 59 Wash.App. 856, 864, 801 P.2d 1009 (1990). However, we expressly rejected this approach in Spokane Research, reasoning that the harm occurs when the record is wrongfully withheld, which usually occurs at the time of response or disclosure. Spokane Research, 155 Wash.2d at 103 n. 10, 117 P.3d 1117. Contrary to the Daines court's holding, the remedial provisions of the PRA are triggered when an agency fails to properly disclose and produce records, and any intervening disclosure serves only to stop the clock on daily penalties, rather than to eviscerate the remedial provisions altogether. To the extent that Daines held otherwise, it is overruled. ¶ 37 As will generally be true in many cases, a party does not know with certainty that a document in its possession is the public record it seeks until the agency responds. As we have previously recognized, the PRA requires a response to a request and disclosure of all responsive public records held by the agency. [16] The fact that the requesting party possesses the documents does not relieve an agency of its statutory duties, nor diminish the statutory remedies allowed if the agency fails to fulfill those duties. To the extent the Court of Appeals decision here, as in Daines, suggests otherwise, we reject that approach and reverse the Court of Appeals on this issue. ¶ 38 In this instance, the agency refused to produce anything at all for Item # 2, saying instead that the PRA does not require agencies to explain public records. As such, no response is required. CP at 54. This violates the PRA. The request sought public records, not explanations, and if the agency was unclear about what was requested, it was required to seek clarification. The Alliance eventually obtained two e-mails that explicitly named Ron Hand and Steve Harris in relation to setting up phones and computers, which directly relates to cubicle assignments and therefore would have been responsive to Item # 2. The Alliance was wrongfully denied these public records between the time of the refusal until they were eventually disclosed pursuant to the separate request. We therefore reverse the grant of summary judgment for Alliance regarding Item #2 and remand for a penalty determination.