(1) Upon receipt of a public records request, it will be recorded in the office of the state treasurer's public records tracking system and will be assigned a tracking number.
(2) The public records officer will evaluate the request to determine the availability and potential volume of requested records.
(3) Acknowledging receipt of request. Following the initial evaluation of the request under subsection (2) of this section, and 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 retrieval, including:
(i) If copies are available via the internet, provide an internet address to specific records requested;
(ii) If copies will be provided without a fee or deposit for the copies, send the copies to the requestor;
(b) Acknowledge receipt of the request and provide a reasonable estimate of when records or an installment of records will be available, in which the estimate may be revised from time to time;
(c) Acknowledge receipt of the request and ask the requestor to provide clarification for a request that is unclear or unduly burdensome, providing, to the greatest extent practicable, the office of the state treasurer's interpretation of the request and a reasonable estimate of time to respond based on such interpretation:
(i) Clarification may be requested and provided by telephone and memorialized in writing;
(ii) If the requestor fails to respond to a request for clarification and the office of the state treasurer cannot reasonably interpret the request to be sufficient pursuant to chapter 42.56 RCW, the office of the state treasurer need not respond to it; or
(d) Deny the request.
(4) Providing records in installments. The public records officer may provide copies, or access for inspection and copying, in installments. If, within 30 days, the requestor fails to inspect or take delivery of the entire set of records or any one or more installments, the request will be abandoned as described in subsection (5) of this section.
(5) Closing withdrawn or abandoned request. When a requestor either withdraws their request or fails to amend or clarify an unclear request, take delivery of or inspect the records, pay the deposit, pay the required fees for an installment, or make final payment for the requested copies, the public records officer may deem the request abandoned, administratively close the request, and notify the requestor of such closure.