The Washington Supreme Court ruled today in favor of a coalition of 10 media organizations that sued the Legislature for its denial that the Public Records Act (PRA) applies to Legislature and legislative offices.
The Court affirmed the trial court’s decision that “under the plain meaning of the PRA, individual legislators are ‘agencies’ subject in full to the PRA’s general public records disclosure mandate” and that the “institutional bodies are not ‘agencies’” but are “subject to the PRA’s narrower public records disclosure by and through each chambers’ respective administrative officer” – the secretary of the senate and the chief clerk of the house of representatives.
The media is hailing this as a landmark decision. (See links below)
The opinion itself was penned by Justice Susan Owens and concurred within its entirety by Chief Justice Mary Fairhurst and Justices Charles Wiggins and Barbara Madsen. Justice Debra Stephens concurred in part and dissented in part, stating that she agreed that the individual legislator offices are agencies subject to the PRA but would also hold that the legislature as an institution, like the individual offices, is subject to the PRA and must comply. Justices Mary Yu and Charles Johnson agreed with her.
Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud also drafted a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. She agreed with the holding that the legislature is subject to the narrower disclosure requirements but disagreed with the holding that individual legislators should be considered “agencies.” Justice Steve Gonzalez agreed with her.
While multiple opinions can render a decision confusing, that is not the case here, with 7 of the 9 justices agreeing that individual legislative offices should be subject to the PRA and 6 agreeing that it applies to the clerk and secretary (with the others willing to take it a step further). In total, all 9 agreed that the PRA applies to the legislative branch in some way.
The Legislature has largely been reluctant to address changes to the Public Records Act.
However, while many think it was, the PRA was not written in stone. It can and should be amended as new technologies arise, lessons are learned over time, and needs dictate. With today’s ruling, hopefully, the legislature will now listen to local governments when they offer suggestions for areas of improvement.
MEDIA RESOURCES:
- Crosscut: Washington state lawmakers said they were above public records law. The state Supreme Court just disagreed. December 19, 2019.
- HeraldNet: Court: Washington state lawmakers are subject to records act. December 19, 2019.
- Kiro 7: Court: Washington state lawmakers subject to records act. December 19, 2019.
- The News Tribune: State’s public records laws apply to legislators, Supreme Court rules. December 19, 2019.
- The Seattle Times: State legislators are subject to the public -records law, Washington state Supreme Court Rules. December 19, 2019.
- The Spokesman-Review: Washington Supreme Court rules that legislators must release public records. December 19, 2019.
