Adopted by City of Spokane on July 1, 2004; revised January 23, 2018. Received by City Clerk’s Office January 8, 2018. ADMIN 0260-17-03, LGL 2009-0018
1. GENERAL
1 .1 Authority and Purpose.
1.1.1 RCW 42.56.070(1) of the Public Records Act (“Act”) requires each state or local agency to make available for inspection and copying nonexempt “public records” in accordance with published rules.
1.1.2 The purpose of this policy is to establish the procedures the City of Spokane will follow in order to respond to requests made for records under the Act. This policy provides information to persons wishing to request access to public records of the City of Spokane and establishes processes for both requestors and City staff.
1.1.3 The Act’s purpose is to provide the public full access to non-exempt records concerning government conduct to the extent such records are not made exempt by the Act, in a manner that does not unduly impair the public’s entitlement to receive effective and efficient performance of the City’s governmental duties and functions, and that respects legally-protected privacy rights. The Act and these considerations will be interpreted in favor of disclosure. In carrying out its responsibilities under the Act, the City will be guided by the provisions of the Act describing its purposes and interpretation.
1.2 TABLE OF CONTENTS
- 1.0 GENERAL
- 2.0 DEPARTMENTS/DIVISIONS AFFECTED
- 3.0 REFERENCES
- 4.0 DEFINITIONS
- 5.0 POLICY
- 6.0 PROCEDURE
- 7.0 RESPONSIBILITIES
- 8.0 APPENDICES
2. DEPARTMENTS/DIVISIONS AFFECTED
This policy shall apply to all City divisions and departments except:
- a. record requests handled by the Records Unit of the Police Department;
- b. record requests handled by the Spokane Municipal Court; and
- c. record requests handled by the Spokane Public Library.
Copies of the Public Records Request policies and fee schedules for the Police Records Unit, Municipal Court, and Public Library will be placed on file for review with the Office of the City Clerk.
3. REFERENCES
- RCW Ch. 42.56 Public Records Act
- WAC Ch. 44-14 Public Records Act-Model Rules
- Mayoral Executive Order EO 2008-05-Public Records Index
4. DEFINITIONS
4.1 A “public record” includes: (1) any writing; (2) that contains information relating to the conduct of government or the performance of any governmental or proprietary function; and (3) that was prepared, owned, used, or retained by the City regardless of physical form or characteristics.
4.2 “Writing” means handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photographing, and every other means of recording any form of communication or representation, including, but not limited to, letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combination thereof, and all papers, maps, magnetic or paper tapes, photographic films and prints, motion picture, film and video recordings, magnetic or punched cards, discs, drums, diskettes, sound recordings, text messages, emails, voicemails, social media postings, and other documents including existing data compilations from which information may be obtained or translated.
5. POLICY
5.1 Agency Description – Contact Information – Public Records Officer
5.1.1 The City of Spokane is a municipal corporation. The City’s central office is located at City Hall, 808 West Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, Washington 99201. The City has field offices at various sites throughout the City.
5.1.2 Records Officers
a. Any person wishing to request access to public records of the City, or seeking assistance in making such a request should contact the Public Records Officer of the City:
Terri Pfister, City Clerk
City of Spokane
Fifth Floor, City Hall
808 West Spokane Falls Boulevard
Spokane, Washington 99201
(509) 625-6350
FAX: (509) 625-6217
Email: [email protected]
b. Requests for Police Records.
Requests to inspect or copy records maintained by the City’s Police Department should be made to the Police Records Officer at:
Evidence and Records Manager
City of Spokane Police Department
1100 West Mallon Avenue
Spokane, Washington 99260
(509) 625-4279
FAX: (509) 625-4059
Email: [email protected]
c. Requests for Library Records.
Requests to inspect or copy records maintained by the City’s Library Department should be made to the City Clerk who is the Library’s designated Records Officer at:
City Clerk (Library’s designated Records Officer)
Fifth Floor, City Hall
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
Spokane, Washington 99201
(509) 625-6350
Email: [email protected]
d. Requests for Municipal Court Records.
Requests to inspect or copy records maintained by the City’s Municipal Court should be made to the Court’s Records Officer at:
Records Officer
City of Spokane Municipal Court
1100 West Mallon Avenue
Spokane, Washington 99260
(509) 625-4400
FAX: (509) 625-4442
Email: [email protected]
e. Information is also available at the City’s web site at www.spokanecity.org.
5.1.3 The Public Records Officer will oversee compliance with the Act but another City staff member may process the request. Therefore, when this policy refers to the “Public Records Officer,” it also refers to a designee of the Public Records Officer.
5.2 Availability of Public Records
5.2.1 Hours for inspection of records.
Public records are available for inspection and copying during normal business hours of the City, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding municipal legal holidays. Records must be inspected at the offices of the City. The City and the requestor can make mutually agreeable arrangements for the times of inspection and copying.
5.2.2 Records Index.
The City of Spokane does not maintain a records index pursuant to Mayoral Executive Order EO 2008-0005.
5.2.3 Organization I Protection of Records.
a. The City will maintain its records in a reasonably organized manner consistent with available resources. The City/Public Records Officer may take any steps deemed necessary to protect and preserve records from damage, alteration or disorganization.
b. A requestor shall not alter, disorganize, damage, take, or remove City records from City offices or custody without the express written permission of the Public Records Officer. Requestors upon advance notification to the Records Officer may use personal scanners or cameras for the making of copies of documents during record reviews. If a requestor damages records during review, inspection, or copying, the City reserves the right to recover, from all persons responsible, all costs of record recovery, including direct costs as well as all consequential losses or damages, and/or to pursue prosecution of all persons responsible.
5.2.4 A variety of records is available on the City’s web site at www.spokanecity.org. Requesters are encouraged to view the records available on the web site prior to submitting a records request.
5.2.5 Making a request for public records.
a. A verbal request, as compared to one made in writing, poses greater risks of miscommunication or misinterpretation and therefore misunderstanding of the requester’s intention as to which records s/he is seeking. Such misunderstandings impair the City’s ability to properly and timely fulfill the request, and moreover cause inefficiencies for City staff members that impair their ability to effectively and efficiently perform the City’s governmental duties and functions for the benefit of other members of the public.
Any person wishing to inspect or copy public records of the City should therefore make the request in writing, on the City’s request form, or by letter, fax, or e-mail addressed to the Public Records Officer.
b. A requester must give the City reasonable notice that the request is being made under the Public Records Act. The request should include the following information:
- Name of requester;
- Address of requester;
- Other contact information, including telephone number
- and any e-mail address;
- Identification of the records sought, with such specificity
- as necessary to permit the Public Records Officer or
- designee to reasonably locate the records; and
- The date of the request.
c. A question or request for information is not a request for a record, nor is a request that the City compile data, create a record, or produce a record not in existence at the time the request is received.
d. If the requester wishes to have copies of the records made instead of simply inspecting them, he or she should so indicate and must pay or make agreed arrangements to pay the deposit provided for in this Policy. (See 6.4.1 for deposit provisions.)
e. A form is available for use by requesters at the office of the Public Records Officer and on-line at www.spokanecity.org.
f. The Public Records Officer may accept in-person or telephonic verbal requests for public records that contain the above information. If the Public Records Officer accepts such a request, he or she may confirm receipt of the information and the substance of the request in writing. If the Public Records Officer does so, the written confirmation will be deemed the correct statement of the scope of the request unless the requester responds with a different statement of the scope.
g. The Public Records Officer does not monitor social media sites or voicemail for public record requests. Public record requests will not be accepted via social media or voicemail.
h. A “bot request” means a request that the City reasonably believes was automatically generated by a computer program or script. The Public Records Officer does not accept an automated or bot request that is one of multiple requests from the requester to the City within a twenty-four hour period, if the request would cause excessive interference with other essential functions of the City.
6. PROCEDURE
6.1 Processing of Public Records Requests – General
6.1.1 Providing “fullest assistance.”
The City will provide the fullest assistance possible to requesters, consistent with recognition that the City has limited resources to respond to requests. The Public Records Officer will process requests in a manner and order allowing for the highest efficiency of the City’s discharge of not only its Public Records Act obligations, but all of its obligations to the public, and will do so with the corollary aim of using the most reasonable cost-efficient methods available to the City as
part of its normal operations and allowing the most requests to be
processed in the most efficient manner.
6.1.2 Acknowledging receipt of request.
Within five (5) business days of receipt of the request, the Public Records Officer will do one or more of the following:
- a. Make the records available for inspection or copying in whole or in part;
- b. If copies are requested and full payment due from the requestor of the amount due under this policy is received by the City, or other terms of payment are agreed upon, provide the copies to the requestor;
- c. Provide a reasonable estimate of when the records will be made available or, if it is anticipated that the request will be fulfilled in a series of installment productions, a reasonable estimate of when the first set of records will be made available. The Public Records Officer may subsequently revise the estimate of when all or a partial set of records will be made available;
- d. If the request is unclear or does not sufficiently identify the records sought, request clarification from the requestor. Such clarification may be requested and provided by telephone. If the clarification is made by telephone, the Public Records Officer may confirm the scope of the clarification in writing. If the Public Records Officer provides written clarification, that confirmation will be deemed the correct statement of the scope of the request unless the requestor responds with a different statement of the scope.
- e. Deny the request, in whole or part, specifying the reasons for the denial.
- f. The City may fulfill all or part of a request by providing an internet address and link on the City’s web site to the specific records requested, except that if the requestor notifies the City that s/he cannot access the internet, the City will provide copies of the record or allow the requestor to view copies using a City computer.
6.1.3 Consequences of failure to respond.
If the City does not respond in writing within five (5) business days of receipt of the request for disclosure, the requestor should contact the Public Records Officer to determine the reason for the failure to respond. If the requestor does not provide clarification in response to a request by the Public Records Officer for clarification, within thirty (30) days of the clarification request having been made, the City will consider the request abandoned as to those portions for which clarification was requested but not received, and advise the requestor in writing that the request has been closed as to those portions. Should the requestor, after such closure, provide clarification, his or her clarified request shall be considered a new request and shall be processed as such, and other public records requests can be processed ahead of such a clarified request.
6.1.4 Protecting rights of others.
In the event that the requested records contain information that may affect rights of others and may be exempt from disclosure, the Public Records Officer may, prior to providing the records, give notice to such others whose rights may be affected by the disclosure. Such notice should be given so as to make it possible for those other persons to contact the requestor and ask him or her to revise the request, or, if necessary, seek an order from a court to prevent or limit the disclosure. The notice to the affected persons will include an accurate statement of the scope and terms of the request or a copy of the request. Typically, the Public Records Officer will give the person whose rights may be affected by disclosure ten (10) business days to obtain a Court order preventing the City from disclosing the record, but the Public Records Officer may determine that circumstances warrant a different notice/opportunity period. If no such Court order is received, the City will release the records to the requestor subject to applicable exemptions warranting withholdings(s) and/or redaction(s) by the City.
6.1.5 Records exempt from disclosure.
Some records responsive to a request are exempt from disclosure, in whole or part. If the City believes that a record is exempt from disclosure and should be withheld in the record’s entirety, the Public Records Officer will identify in writing the existence and nature of the record, state the specific exemption supporting the withholding, and a brief explanation of how the exemption applies. If only a portion of a record is exempt from disclosure, but the remainder is not exempt, the Public Records Officer will, to the extent required by law, redact the exempt portions but provide the non-exempt portions, and state in writing the specific exemption supporting the redaction and a brief explanation of how the exemption applies.
Notwithstanding, the City’s citation to a particular statutory exemption to support a withholding or a redaction shall not be considered exclusive as to other statutory exemptions that may equally or alternatively be operative to support the withholding or redaction, as other statutory exemptions, not cited by the City at the time of the withholding/production of the redacted record(s), may later be cited by the City to support any withholding/redaction.
Any reasonably-understandable format may be used by the Public Records Officer to provide the requester the written statutory exemption citation(s) and brief explanation(s) required for each withholding and/or redaction. According to the Public Records Officer’s convenience and discretion, this information may be provided in the form of any or a combination of the following (which are provided as examples and without limitation): a “withholding/redaction index,” and/or a written narrative, and/or (in the case of redactions) use of a keyed system of color-coded redaction boxes and/or redaction boxes with informational/explanatory content incorporated onto the boxes. The assessment of the applicability of statutory exemptions, the performance of redactions, and the preparation of written withholding and/or redaction citations and explanations often takes substantial time and commitment of public monies and resources, and extends the time for production of records in response to requests. The Public
Records Officer may explain to the requester that performance of these steps will delay fulfillment of his or her request and invite the requester to focus or narrow the request to save time and help serve the requester’s needs.
6.1.6 Inspection of records.
- a. Consistent with other demands and resources, the City shall provide space to inspect public records. Upon reviewing the records, the requester shall comply with policy section 5.2.3(b) regarding the “Protection of Records”. If the requester wishes copies, the requester shall indicate which documents he or she wishes the City to copy, and, if asked, shall state whether s/he wishes the copies in paper or electronic format. If the requester wishes copies but does not specify whether s/he wishes them in paper or electronic format, the Public Records Officer will provide the records in a format(s) that effectuates the most reasonable cost-efficient methods available to the City as part of its normal operations. The City and the requester can make mutually agreeable arrangements for the times of inspection.
- b. The requester must claim or review all of the records, or a partial installment set of all of the records, within thirty (30) days of the City’s notification to him or her that records are available. Claiming or reviewing records includes payment of all charges due from the requester when and as due under other applicable provisions of this Policy. When all or a partial set of all of the records are available for inspection or copying, the City will notify the requester in writing that he or she should contact the City to make arrangements to claim or review the records. If the requester fails within the thirty (30) day period to claim or review the records or make other arrangements, the City may close the request and refile the assembled records. Other public records requests can be processed ahead of a subsequent request by the same person for the same or almost identical records, which can be processed as a new request.
6.1.7 Providing copies of records.
After inspection is complete, the Public Records Officer shall make the requested copies or arrange for copying.
6.1.8 Closing withdrawn or abandoned request.
When the requester either withdraws the request or fails to fulfill his or her obligations to inspect the records or pay the deposit or final payment for the requested copies, the Public Records Officer will close the request and indicate to the requester that the City has closed the request.
6.1.9 Later-discovered documents.
If, after the City has informed the requester that it has provided all responsive records, the City becomes aware of additional responsive records that existed at the time the request was received, the City will promptly inform the requester of the additional documents and provide them on an expedited basis.
6.1.10 Managing public records requests.
The Public Records Officer is primarily responsible for managing the records requests based on the following criteria:
- a. The number of records responsive to a given request;
- b. The number and size of other records requests in the queue;
- c. The amount of processing required for the subject request or requests and other requests in the queue;
- d. The status of a particular request that is waiting for third-party review or requester action;
- e. The current volume of other City work, as it affects the amount of staff time that can be devoted to the subject request or requests; and
- f. The Public Records Act’s requirement that “Agencies shall not distinguish among persons requesting records.”
6.2 Processing of public record requests – electronic records.
6.2.1 Requesting electronic records.
The process for requesting electronic records is the same as for requesting paper public records.
6.2.2 Providing electronic records.
When a requester requests records in an electronic format, the Public Records Officer will provide the nonexempt records or nonexempt portions of such records that are reasonably locatable in an electronic format that is used by the City and is generally commercially available, or in a format that is reasonably translatable from the format in which the City keeps the records, as long as it is reasonable and technologically feasible for the City to do so. The City is not required to produce records in electronic format when redactions are required and the City must print the records to make the redactions.
6.2.3 Customized access to data bases.
With the consent of the requester, the City may provide customized access under RCW 43.105.355 if the record is not reasonably locatable or not reasonably translatable into the format requested.
The City will first consult with the requester before undertaking steps needed for specialized access. The City may charge a fee consistent with RCW 42.56.120(3)(b) for such customized access only if the City has first notified the requester of the customized service charge, including an explanation of why the charge applies, a description of the specific expertise, and a reasonable estimate of the charge. The requester will also be notified thats/he may amend his/her request in order to avoid or reduce the customized access charge.
6.3 Exemptions
6.3.1 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 exemptions, outside the Public Records Act, that restrict the availability of some documents held by the City of Spokane for inspection and copying. The list is a partial list only, and there may be other statutes that restrict or limit the disclosure to the public. These exemptions are located in Attachment B.
6.3.2 The City is prohibited by statute from disclosing lists of individuals for commercial purposes. If a requestor asks for a list of individuals or a requestor seeks records which include a list of individuals, the Public Records Officer is to determine if there is any indication that the requested list may be used for commercial purposes. If the Officer determines that there is such an indication, the requestor will be asked to complete a “Commercial Purpose Declaration” (Attachment D). If the requestor asserts some “commercial” purpose to the request, the City is forbidden by state law from providing the requested records.
6.4 Costs of Providing Copies of Public Records
6.4.1 No fee shall be charged for the inspection of public records.
6.4.2 No fee shall be charged for locating public documents and making them available for copying.
6.4.3 Under RCW 42.56.120, an agency need not calculate the actual costs it charges for providing public records if the agency has rules or regulations declaring the reasons for doing so would be unduly burdensome. To the extent an agency has not determined the actual cost of copying public records, an agency may use the statutory default copy fee schedule set forth in RCW 42.56.120. Based on the following findings, the City will charge fees for copies of records pursuant to the default fees in RCW 42.56.120(2)(b) and (c) and as described in Attachment C and Sections 6.4.4 through 6.4. 7 below:
- a. Calculating the actual cost of providing public records would be unduly burdensome because funds were not allocated for performing a study to determine actual copying costs.
- b. The City lacks the necessary funds and staff resources to conduct a comprehensive study to determine its actual copying costs.
- c. To conduct such a cost study would interfere with the City’s other essential agency functions.
6.4.4 The City of Spokane waives fees for production of records if production totals less than one dollar ($1 ). It would be unduly burdensome for the City to prepare a statement, collect money, and comply with all the state laws surrounding the collection and receipt of money for these small record productions. It would cost the City more to collect and receipt the money than would be collected for these small record productions. (See RCW 42.56.120(2)(b))
6.4.5 Costs for photo/printed/electronically scanned copies.
The City charges fifteen cents ($0.15) per page for photocopies to be produced to a requester or for electronic records printed to paper. If paper records must be scanned to electronic format to fulfill a request because the requester asked for electronic copies of records that exist only in paper format, the City charges ten cents ($.10) per scanned page.
Before beginning to make photo, printed, and/or scanned copies, the Public Records Officer may require a deposit of up to ten percent (10%) of the estimated costs of doing so for all the records selected by the requester. The Public Records Officer may also require the payment of the remainder of all costs chargeable under this Policy for fulfilling the requester’s request, before providing all the records, or the Public Records Officer may require payment of the chargeable costs under this Policy for providing a partial installment of records, before providing that installment to the requester. The City will not assess sales tax on any cost otherwise chargeable to the requester under this Policy.
6.4.6 Costs of mailing, emailing, and digital storage media.
The City may also charge actual costs of delivery of the records to the requester, including the cost/fees of postage or transmission charged by the postal service or delivery provider; the cost of the shipping container (e.g., envelope); the cost of any digital media storage device on which records are saved for delivery (such as a hard disk, DVD or CD, flash drive, etc.); and the cost of the device’s container. The City may also charge five cents, each, per four electronic files or attachments, uploaded to email, cloud-based data storage service, or other means of electronic delivery. The City may also charge ten cents per gigabyte for the transmission of records in an electronic format or for the use of agency equipment to send the records electronically. These costs may be added to any other costs required of the requester, to be paid by the requester as a condition precedent to the City making available to the requester all, or any partial installment production of, the requested records.
6.4.7 If materials need to be copied by an outside source, the requester pays the actual amount invoiced to the City by the vendor.
6.4.8 Payment.
Payment may be made by cash, check, or money order to the City of Spokane. Checks returned to the City for non-sufficient funds are treated as non-payment and referred to collection.
6.5 Review of Denials Of Public Records
6.5.1 Optional 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 within sixty (60) days of the denial of access. The petition shall include a copy of or reasonably identify the written statement by the Public Records Officer denying the request.
6.5.2 Consideration of petition for review.
- a. The Public Records Officer shall promptly provide the petition and any other relevant information to the Hearing Examiner, with copy to the City Attorney.
- b. The City Attorney or designee may file a response to the petition with the Hearing Examiner. Any response to the petition must be filed with the Hearing Examiner within five (5) business days following the City’s receipt of the appeal.
- c. The Hearing Examiner will consider the petition and either affirm, modify, or reverse the denial within ten (10) business days following the City’s receipt of the petition, or within such greater period of time as the City and the requester mutually agree to.
6.5.3 Judicial review.
Any person may obtain court review of a denial of a public records request pursuant to RCW 42.56.520 at the conclusion of two (2) business days after the initial denial regardless of any internal administrative review.
6.6 Disaster Recovery Tapes
The City periodically creates backup tapes of the City’s computer files. These tapes are copies of data and other records. Creation of the backup tape is a method of copying electronic records and is not intended to create a new public record. The disaster recovery tapes exist so that computer files can be restored in case of disaster to City records, infrastructure, or computer systems, and have no retention value under the state Local Government Common Records Retention Schedule (i.e., the tapes may be retained until no longer needed then may be destroyed). The data on the disaster recovery tapes are not in a readily searchable format and, to prevent excessive interference with essential functions of the City, the tapes will not generally be searched pursuant to a public records request.
7. RESPONSIBILITIES
The City Clerk shall administer this policy.
8. APPENDICES
