PUBLIC RECRDS 101 Top Ten Things Every Employee Must Know About the Public Records Act Presented by: Amanda Davis Simpfenderfer SCCD Public Records Officer

PRA 101 What is the Public Records Act Requires that most records maintained by state, county, city governments, and all special purpose districts be made available to members of the public. Public records disclosure statutes apply equally to "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. The definition of what is a "public record" is quite broad. The definition of "writing" is also broad. Papers, photos, maps, videos, and electronic records are all covered by the Public Records Act.

PRA 101 Employees Are Ethically Required to Know Personal Legal Obligation : “ No state officer or state employee may intentionally conceal a record if the officer or employee knew the record was required to be released under [the PRA.] ” RCW Agency Liability : “ An agency’s compliance with the Public Records Act is only as reliable as the weakest link. ” P.A.W.S. v. UW, 125 Wn.2d 243, 269 (1994). Legal Duty Under the PRA : All employees must help locate records and must be able to identify requests

PRA 101 #1 Strong Public Mandate in Favor of Open Government Passed by Initiative in 1972 All records of an agency are presumed to be subject to disclosure Agencies must respond promptly and provide fullest assistance to requesters

PRA 101 #2 You May Have to Help Process a PRA Request If a Records Request is made to you If you are named in the Records Request If the Records Requested are in your possession

PRA 101 No fee for inspection No charge for search time May charge for copying, scanning from hard copy to electronic copy, or sending large amounts of documents via CD #3 Agencies Must Disclose at Almost No Cost

PRA 101 #4 PRA Compliance Is a Team Effort Public Records Officer Records Custodians IT Staff Agency Attorney Executive Staff

PRA 101 #5 Listen to Your PRO Public Records Officer is following a game plan Fully trained in legal requirements Customer oriented

PRA 101 Embracing your duties under the PRA leads to better compliance A bad attitude can cost you Disliking or complaining about the request doesn’t lessen the responsibility to comply #6 Pays to Embrace the Public Records Act

PRA 101 NEW $0 to $100 per day per request No proof of damages required Attorney fees and costs

PRA 101 Significant Penalties Mason County $175,000 & $135,000 DSHS $525,001 (3 x $175,000) City of Monroe $157,000 City of Prosser $175,000 Jefferson County $42,000 King County $360,000 in Yousoufian – Supreme Court held $124,000 was TOO low

PRA 101 Three Tasks Your Public Records Officer Must Complete Immediately 1.Start tracking request 2.Notify record holders and IT (records preservation) 3.Start generating the 5-day response #7 PRA Requires “Prompt Response”

PRA 101 Generating the 5-day Response 1.Deny request 2.Fulfill request by providing documents (may fulfill by providing a link to the document on the web) 3.Reasonable time estimate 4.Request clarification You must take 1 of 4 actions in 5 days:

PRA 101 “Reasonable” Time Estimate Based on: Size of request Location of records/number of custodians Likelihood of exemptions and redactions Available staff, number of other requests An agency can revise its estimate

PRA 101 #8 All Records Presumed to Be Public Records A public record is: 1.Any writing 2.Relating to the conduct / performance of any governmental or proprietary function 3.Prepared, owned, used, or retained by a public agency “nearly any conceivable government record related to the conduct of government.” O’Neill v. City of Shoreline, 170 Wn.2d 138 (2010).

PRA 101 Types of Records Calendars Evaluations Public comment forms Photographs, videos and MP3s Databases Voic s Text Messages Social Media Traditional Records Letters Contracts Resolutions Electronic Records s Word documents Spreadsheets PDFs PRA 401: Electronic Records

PRA 101 Personal Computers and Accounts Work-related records are public records wherever they are located, including: Records saved on home computer s sent to or from personal accounts

PRA All locations and sources you would reasonably expect to find responsive records 2.Re-assess and update search criteria #9 Agencies Must Conduct a Broad Search for Records

PRA 101 s Central server Calendars Desktops & Laptops PDAs Cell phones Thumb drives Drawers Off-site storage Central File Server Drawers Calendars Laptops and Desktops PDAs Cell Phones Thumb Drives #9 Agencies Must Conduct a Broad Search for Records Where do you search?

PRA 101 Retention and Creation Matter If you don’t create it, you don’t have to produce it If you know where you put it, it’s a lot easier to find If you’ve properly deleted it, you won’t have any liability under the PRA … SGGRRS5.1.pdfhttp:// SGGRRS5.1.pdf … as long as there was no pending request!!

PRA 101 Specific Exemption Required

PRA 101 ONLY WITHHOLD A RECORD WHEN IT WILL SERVE THE PUBLIC INTEREST

PRA 101 Personal Privacy Commercial Efficient Government Taxpayer Public Safety

PRA 101 Agencies must allow records to be examined “even though such examination may cause inconvenience or embarrassment to public officials or others” RCW (3)

PRA 101 Exemptions Allowed Under the Public Records Act 1)Student Records 2)Attorney Client Privilege 3)Attorney Client Work Product 4)Public Employees – Applications 5)Public Employees – Personal Information 6)Public Employees – Personnel Files 7)Personal Financial Information 8)Social Security Numbers 9)Systems Security

PRA 101 Silent Withholding When You Must Withhold You Still Must Disclose Provide Basic Identifying Information