Chapter 1.376 PUBLIC RECORDS PROCEDURES*

Chapter 1.376
PUBLIC RECORDS PROCEDURES*

Sections:

1.376.010 Purpose.

1.376.020 Scope.

1.376.030 Interpretation and construction.

1.376.040 Exempt records.

1.376.050 Public records officers designated.

1.376.060 Organization and protection of records.

1.376.070 Making a request for public records.

1.376.080 Inspection of public records.

1.376.090 Processing a public records request.

1.376.100 Electronic information.

1.376.110 Copying and delivery fees.

1.376.120 Searching public records—Backup and security copies.

1.376.130 Review of denied request.

1.376.140 Copies of chapter available to public.

1.376.150 Exemption for requirement to maintain current records index.

* Prior legislation: Res. 2006-186.

1.376.010 Purpose.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide rules by which the county implements the provisions of Chapter 42.56 RCW, the Public Records Act, for the county’s public records. These rules provide information to persons wishing to request access to county public records and establish processes to assist members of the public in obtaining such access. (Res. 2019-21 (part), 2/4/19).

1.376.020 Scope.

(1) This chapter applies to the public records of Chelan County, and its offices and departments. This chapter does not apply to public records of any other government, such as the state, federal, city, or special purpose districts that may be available to county employees by virtue of digital connectivity.

(2) This chapter does not apply to court records, judges’ files, and the records of the judicial branch agencies. Access to those records is governed by laws and regulations including but not necessarily limited to Washington State Court General Rule (GR) 31.1. Anyone seeking access to superior or district court records should contact the court administrator.

For superior court:

Court Administrator

Chelan County Superior Court

401 Washington Street, 5th Floor

Wenatchee, Washington 98801

Telephone: (509) 667-6210

Facsimile: (509) 667-6588

Email: SuperiorCourt.Judge@co.chelan.wa.us

https://www.co.chelan.wa.us/superior-court/pages/administrative-records-request?parent=howdoi

Juvenile court is a division of superior court. Access to juvenile court records shall be in accordance with the memorandum of understanding between the board of Chelan County commissioners and Chelan County juvenile court (MOU) dated October 15, 2018. A copy of the MOU may be obtained from the board of county commissioners office, 400 Douglas Street, Suite 201, Wenatchee, Washington, 98801, or via this link:

http://www.co.chelan.wa.us/files/juvenile/documents/AGREEMENTS%20-%2020181015A5-1%20-%20JUVENILE%20-.pdf

For district court:

Court Administrator

Chelan County District Court

350 Orondo Street, 4th Floor

Wenatchee, Washington 98801

P.O. Box 2686

Wenatchee, Washington 98807

Phone: (509) 667-6600

Fax: (509) 667-6456

Email: DistrictCourt.Clerk@co.chelan.wa.us;

https://www.co.chelan.wa.us/district-court/HowDoI?parent=HowDoI

For district court probation department:

410 Washington Street

Wenatchee, Washington 98801

Phone: (509) 667-6239

Fax: (509) 667-6662

(Res. 2019-21 (part), 2/4/19).

1.376.030 Interpretation and construction.

The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally interpreted and construed to promote access to the county’s public records; provided, that when making public records available the county shall prevent unreasonable invasions of privacy, shall protect public records from damage, loss, or disorganization, and shall prevent unreasonable or excessive interference with essential government functions. Providing public records also shall not unreasonably disrupt the operation of county offices or departments. (Res. 2019-21 (part), 2/4/19).

1.376.040 Exempt records.

The county hereby adopts the lists of laws maintained by the Washington State Code Reviser and the Municipal Research Services Center of Washington (MRSC) as the lists containing every law, other than those specifically set forth in the Public Records Act, which the county believes exempts or otherwise prohibits disclosure of specific records or information. Public records and information exempt from disclosure under the Public Records Act or any other law are exempt from disclosure under this chapter whether or not such exemption is on any list of exemptions adopted, published, or maintained by the county. (Res. 2019-21 (part), 2/4/19).

1.376.050 Public records officers designated.

(1) A public records officer shall serve as the point of contact for persons requesting access to public records.

(2) Any person requesting access to the public records of the board of county commissioners, or departments, boards, and commissions appointed by and reporting to the board of county commissioners, should contact the public records officer for the board of county commissioners:

Public Records Coordinator

Board of County Commissioners

400 Douglas Street, Suite 201

Wenatchee, Washington 98801

Telephone: (509) 667-6893

Email: PublicRecords.coordinator@co.chelan.wa.us

Requests can also be submitted via an online portal at:

https://chelancountywa.govqa.us/WEBAPP/_rs/SupportHome.aspx

(3) For all other elected offices (assessor, auditor, clerk, coroner, prosecuting attorney, sheriff, and treasurer), the elected official is the public records officer for the offices and departments administered by that elected official. The elected official may designate a deputy public records officer, or an alternate public records officer, to act when the elected official is absent or otherwise unavailable to act. Any person requesting access to the public records of the assessor, auditor, clerk, coroner, prosecuting attorney, sheriff, and treasurer should submit the request as follows:

For assessor records:

Public Records Officer

Chelan County Assessor’s Office

350 Orondo Avenue, Suite 201

Wenatchee, Washington 98801

Telephone: (509) 667-6365

Email: assessor@co.chelan.wa.us

https://www.co.chelan.wa.us/assessor

For clerk records:

Public Records Officer

Chelan County Clerk’s Office

350 Orondo Avenue, Suite 501

Wenatchee, Washington 98801

Telephone: (509) 667-6380

https://www.co.chelan.wa.us/clerk/HowDoI?paren t=HowDoI

For prosecuting attorney records:

Public Records Officer

Chelan County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office

401 Washington Street, 5th Floor

P.O. Box 2596

Wenatchee, Washington 98807

Telephone: (509) 667-6202

https://www.co.chelan.wa.us/prosecutor/pages/public-records-request-prosecuting-attorney

For treasurer records:

Public Records Officer

Chelan County Treasurer

350 Orondo Avenue, Suite 203

P.O. Box 1441

Wenatchee, Washington 98807

Telephone: (509) 667-6405

https://www.co.chelan.wa.us/treasurer /pages/public-records-request-treasurers-office

For auditor records:

Public Records Officer

Chelan County Auditor’s Office

350 Orondo Avenue, Suite 306

Wenatchee, Washington 98801

Telephone: (509) 667-6800

https://www.co.chelan.wa.us/auditor

For coroner records:

Public Records Officer

Chelan County Coroner’s Office

415 Washington Street, Suite 205

Wenatchee, Washington 98801

Telephone: (509) 667-6431

For sheriff’s records:

Public Records Officer

Chelan County Sheriff’s Office

401 Washington Street, #1

Wenatchee, Washington 98801

Telephone: (509) 667-6875

Email: Sheriff.records@co.chelan.wa.us

https://www.co.chelan.wa.us/sheriff/pages/resources-sheriffs-office?parent=Resources

(Res. 2019-21 (part), 2/4/19).

1.376.060 Organization and protection of records.

County offices and departments will, to the extent practicable, ensure that records requested are not misplaced, mistreated, or misfiled by members of the public during inspections. A requester shall not take public records from any county office or department. Original public records shall not be released to the public for any purpose. (Res. 2019-21 (part), 2/4/19).

1.376.070 Making a request for public records.

(1) A request for public records shall be directed to the public records officer for the office or department having custody or control of the requested records. If the location of records is unknown, then the request may be made to the public records officer for the board of county commissioners.

(2) Public records requests should be made in writing, utilizing the form developed by the office or department from which records are sought. A request for public records of the board of county commissioners, as well as departments, boards and commissions appointed by and reporting to the board of county commissioners, may be submitted via an online portal at:

https://chelancountywa.govqa.us/WEBAPP/_rs/SupportHome.aspx

Requests shall include the following information:

(A) The requester’s name, mailing address, and telephone number;

(B) The date of the request;

(D) Whether the request is to inspect the public records or for copies of public records, or both;

(E) A clear description of the public records requested for inspection and/or copying and the office or department having custody of the public records;

(F) If the request is for a list of individuals, a statement that the list will not be used for any commercial purposes or that the requester is authorized or directed by law to obtain the list of individuals for commercial purposes, with a specific reference to such law; and

(G) Whether the request is for printed or digital copies of the public record.

The public records officer may accept requests for public records that contain the above information by telephone or in person. If requesters refuse to identify themselves or provide sufficient contact information, the public records officer will respond to the extent feasible and consistent with law.

(3) Requests for inspection or copying of public records maintained by an agency of the state of Washington or another government agency must be made to such agency and will be subject to that agency’s rules and regulations, including required forms and fees.

(4) A variety of records are available on the county website at https://www.co.chelan.wa.us/. Requesters are encouraged to view the documents available on the website prior to submitting a records request. (Res. 2019-21 (part), 2/4/19).

1.376.080 Inspection of public records.

(1) Public records will be available for inspection or copying at the offices of the elected official or department having custody or control of the records during normal business hours: Monday through Friday, nine a.m. to noon and one p.m. to four p.m., excluding legal holidays; with the exception of the board of county commissioners and the department of community development which will allow for inspection and copying Monday through Thursday, eight a.m. to twelve p.m., and one p.m. to five p.m., and Friday, eight a.m. to twelve p.m., legal holidays excluded.

(2) County offices and departments shall not be obligated to allow inspection immediately upon a demand.

(3) A public records officer may request that the person seeking to inspect public records schedule an appointment for inspection.

(4) The county office or department will provide space to inspect public records. No member of the public may remove a document from the viewing area or disassemble or alter any document. If copies are requested, the requester shall indicate which documents he or she wishes the public records officer to copy. After inspection is complete, the public records officer or designee will make the requested copies or arrange for copying. The requester shall pay for the copies and postage. (Res. 2019-21 (part), 2/4/19).

1.376.090 Processing a public records request.

(1) The public records officer will, to the extent practicable, assist requesters in identifying the public records sought.

(2) The public records officer will evaluate the request according to the nature of the request, volume, and availability of the requested records, and has the discretion to process each request in the order allowing for efficiency.

(3) Within five 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 including:

(i) Schedule an appointment for inspection at the office or department location;

(ii) If copies are available on the county’s website, provide an internet address and/or link on the website to specific records requested;

(iii) If copies are requested and payment for the copies has been received, or other terms of payment are agreed upon, send the copies to the requester; or

(B) Acknowledge receipt of the request and provide a reasonable estimate of when records or an installment of records will be available (the public records officer may later extend the estimate of when records will be available); or

(C) Acknowledge receipt of the request and ask the requester to provide clarification for a request that is unclear, and provide, to the greatest extent possible, a reasonable estimate of time required to respond to the request if it is not clarified. If the requester fails to respond to a request for clarification and the entire request is unclear, the public records officer need not respond to it. The public records officer will respond to those portions of a request that are clear; or

(D) Deny the request.

(4) Additional time to respond to a request may be based upon the county’s need to:

(A) Clarify the intent of the request;

(B) Identify, locate, assemble and/or make the records ready for inspection or disclosure;

(D) Determine whether any of the records or information requested is exempt from disclosure and whether a denial should be made as to all or part of the request.

(5) If the public records officer does not respond in writing within five business days of receipt of the request for disclosure, the requester should contact the public records officer to determine the reason for the lack of response. The requester will be entitled to request review either by the public record officer’s elected official or department head, or by the prosecuting attorney.

(6) If the public records officer provides an estimate of the time required to respond to the request and the requester believes the amount of time stated is not reasonable, then the requester may request that the public record officer’s elected official or department head, or the prosecuting attorney, review the estimate of time.

(7) The requester must claim or review the assembled records within thirty days of the notification to him or her that the records are available for inspection or copying. If the requester or a representative of the requester fails to claim or review the records within the thirty-day period or make other arrangements, the public records officer 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.

(8) When the request is for a large number of records, the public records officer or designee will provide access for inspection and copying in installments, if he or she reasonably determines that it would be practical to provide the records in that way. If, within thirty days, the requester fails to inspect the responsive records or any one installment thereof, the public records officer or designee may stop searching for or assembling the remaining records and close the request.

(9) When the requester either withdraws the request, or fails to clarify an entirely unclear request, or fails to fulfill his or her obligations to inspect the records, pay the deposit, pay the required fees for an installment, or make final payment for the requested copies and/or postage, the public records officer may close the request. (Res. 2019-21 (part), 2/4/19).

1.376.100 Electronic information.

For purposes of this policy, two classifications of electronic information are recognized: electronic records and custom electronic products.

(1) Electronic Records. The county produces and maintains data in electronic format to maximize efficiency in fulfilling its basic public service functions. These electronic records relate to the operation and conduct of county government and typically include financial data, property records, property assessment records, filed documents, maps, etc.

(A) Electronic records are public records subject to disclosure under the Public Records Act and this chapter, unless exempt from disclosure under state or federal law or the request is for proprietary data which the county is not permitted to disclose to third parties.

(B) At the option of the public records officer, electronic records may be printed and provided in paper format. If the electronic record is large and/or not capable of being printed in an understandable format, then the electronic record may be provided in the digital format in which the record is maintained by the county. The county does not have the obligation to convert an electronic record to a digital format that is different from the format maintained by the county.

(2) Custom Electronic Products. Custom electronic products do not exist at the time of a request. These products must be created by performing any of the following: acquiring data, running custom queries, programming software, testing models, reformatting data, or configuring the product in order to respond to a specific request. Custom electronic products are not public records subject to disclosure.

(A) All requests for custom electronic products will be made to the appropriate public records officer for each department or office.

(B) A request may be denied for any of the following reasons:

(i) The private sector has the ability to produce the requested product at a competitive price;

(ii) The existing workload of the affected staff is such that the requested work cannot be accommodated;

(iii) The request is for information that is exempt or prohibited from disclosure or otherwise confidential under state or federal law;

(iv) The request is for proprietary data which the county is prohibited from disclosing, distributing, or publishing; or

(v) The county does not have the hardware, software or personnel resources to respond to the request.

(C) All fees shall be estimated in writing prior to providing the custom electronic product. Payment of estimated fees must be received before any work will be performed. Fees shall consist of the following:

(i) Design and processing costs to the county, including any charge-back fees paid to another public agency or service bureau;

(ii) Actual costs of salary and benefits for the employee or employees required for consulting and/or producing the custom electronic product;

(iii) Reasonable overhead charges;

(iv) Delivery charges;

(v) Actual costs for magnetic tapes, computer paper, microfiche, disks, and/or other media used to provide the custom electronic product;

(vi) Any consulting fee, subcontractor fee or service cost incurred as a result of obtaining secondary services to respond to the request; and

(vii) A reasonable charge to defray operational hardware and software acquisition, maintenance and replacement costs.

(D) A requester may appeal a denial or the fees required for production of a custom electronic product to the board of county commissioners. The appeal shall be made in writing within ten business days after the requester’s receipt of a written denial or a statement of the fees required. The appeal must state with specificity the relief sought and the reasons supporting the relief. The board shall consider the appeal at a public hearing within twenty days after the appeal is received. The offices and departments affected by the appeal shall have an opportunity to respond to the appeal in writing. The requester and the affected offices and departments shall be given notice of the public hearing at least forty-eight hours in advance and shall have a right to make oral arguments to the board. All deliberations shall be public unless information discussed is exempt or prohibited from disclosure or otherwise confidential under state or federal law. The decision of the board shall be in writing and shall be issued within twenty days after the public hearing.

(E) A written agreement with the requester shall be required prior to any work on and delivery of a custom electronic product. The written agreement shall, at a minimum, include:

(i) A description of the custom electronic product to be produced;

(ii) All fees;

(iii) Whether the custom electronic product will be updated and how often;

(iv) A warranty disclaimer, in a form approved by the prosecuting attorney; and

(v) Any other terms and conditions required by the prosecuting attorney.

(F) The requester shall comply with the terms of all legally acquired software licenses, copyrighted materials and license agreements.

(G) The county may at any time enter into an agreement with a public or private entity for sharing in the production costs of a custom electronic product.

(H) Once a custom electronic product is produced it becomes a public record subject to the Public Records Act. The county reserves the right to purge the product from its public records in accordance with applicable laws. (Res. 2019-21 (part), 2/4/19).

1.376.110 Copying and delivery fees.

(1) Disallowed Charges.

(A) No fee will be charged for the inspection of a public record.

(B) No fee will be charged for locating or searching for public records in response to a request and making the records available for inspection or copying.

(C) No fee will be charged for reviewing public records, redacting portions of a record which are exempt from disclosure, or preparing an index of exempt documents.

(2) Allowed Charges—Generally.

(A) A reasonable fee will be charged to reimburse the county for the costs of providing copies. The public records officer may waive the fee for fewer than one hundred pages on the basis that the expense of processing the payment exceeds the costs of providing the copies.

(B) A reasonable fee shall be charged to reimburse the county for the cost of delivering copies of public records to a requester, including the cost of packaging the copies for delivery and the cost of postage or delivery service.

(C) Any request for which the response will be more than one hundred pages of documents, oversized documents, color photographs or reproductions, tape recordings and computer disks may be sent to a private copying service for copying, in which case the copying fee shall be the actual charge imposed for copying, plus applicable taxes and shipping costs.

(D) The public records officer may require that all copying and delivery fees be paid in advance of the release of the copies.

(3) Statutory Charges. The fee for searching records, research, and/or providing a copy of a public record may be set by statute. Where the state or federal law sets a fee, that fee will be charged. Court papers (RCW 3.62.060); duplication of electronic tapes of a court proceeding (RCW 3.62.060); traffic accident reports (RCW 46.52.085); and criminal history information (RCW 10.97.100) are examples.

(4) Each elected official, department head, board or commission may establish a fee schedule for public records requests made upon them, based on actual expenses, effective upon adoption by legislative authority. Unless a fee is fixed by another federal, state or county ordinance, the following fee schedule is applicable:

Inspection
No fee	Inspection of public records on county website or at county office or department
No fee	Accessing or downloading records the county routinely posts on its website, unless the requester asks for records to be provided through other means

Copies
$0.15 per page	8.5" x 14" or less photocopies (including copies of electronic records when requested)
$1.00 per page	Copies greater than 8.5" x 14"; color maps; greenbar computer printouts; facsimile
$0.10 per page	Scanned records
$0.05 per each 4 electronic files or attachments	Records uploaded to email, cloud-based data storage service, or other means of electronic delivery
$0.10 per gigabyte	Records transmitted in electronic format
Actual cost	Digital storage media or devices: CD, DVD, flash/thumb drive
Actual cost	Postage or delivery charges
$0.50 each	Envelopes

Customized Service
Actual cost	Data compilations prepared or accessed as a customized service (cost is in addition to above fees for copies)

(5) The public records officer may require a deposit in an amount not to exceed ten percent of the estimated cost of providing requested public records. The public records officer may also require the payment of the remainder of the copying costs before providing all the records. If the public records officer responds to a request on a partial or installment basis, the requester shall be charged for each part or installment responding to the request. If a partial or installment response is not claimed or reviewed by the requester, the public records officer is not obligated to fulfill the balance of the request. (Res. 2019-21 (part), 2/4/19).

1.376.120 Searching public records—Backup and security copies.

In order to prevent excessive interference with essential functions of the county, the county shall not search backup or security systems for copies of public records when the originals of such records have been identified, located and are available for inspection and/or copying. (Res. 2019-21 (part), 2/4/19).

1.376.130 Review of denied request.

(1) Any person who objects to the denial of a request for a public record may petition the supervisor of the specific public records officer or the prosecuting attorney for prompt review of such decision by delivering a written request to either the supervisor of the specific public records officer or the prosecuting attorney and including all written responses by the public records officer or other county employee denying the request.

(2) The supervisor of the specific public records officer or the prosecuting attorney shall affirm, modify or reverse the denial in writing within two business days following receipt of the written request for review, or within such other time to which the county department, board or commission and the requester mutually agree.

(3) A requester’s administrative remedies shall not be deemed exhausted until the supervisor of the specific public records officer or the prosecuting attorney has made a written decision or until the close of the second business day following receipt by the supervisor of the specific public records officer or prosecuting attorney of the written request, whichever occurs first.

(4) For purposes of the public disclosure laws, the action of the public records officer becomes final only after the review conducted under this section has been completed. No lawsuit to review the action taken, compel the production of a public record, or impose a penalty or attorney fees shall be brought before the administrative remedies set out in this section have been exhausted by the party seeking the record. (Res. 2019-21 (part), 2/4/19).

1.376.140 Copies of chapter available to public.

Copies of this chapter and public records request forms shall be available to and provided to the public, without cost, at each county office and department. Electronic copies shall be made available to the public on the county’s website. (Res. 2019-21 (part), 2/4/19).

1.376.150 Exemption for requirement to maintain current records index.

(1) Chelan County finds that Chelan County government is comprised of many branches, boards, departments, divisions, agencies, offices, and commissions, which maintain separate records and incompatible record-keeping systems. The county’s records are voluminous, diverse, complex and stored in multiple locations and in multiple incompatible databases. As a result, it would be unduly burdensome and costly to Chelan County taxpayers, and would substantially interfere with effective and timely operation of county offices, to develop an index of those records identified in RCW 42.56.070(3).

(2) No Chelan County official, branch, agency, board, department, division, office, commission or other Chelan County entity is required to maintain an index of public records conforming to the requirements of RCW 42.56.070(3).

(3) Any index maintained by an individual branch, agency, board, department, division, office or commission shall be made available for public inspection and copying unless exempt from disclosure or made confidential by law. (Res. 2019-21 (part), 2/4/19).