Chapter 474-01 WAC

The purpose of this chapter is to provide rules for the office of the state treasurer to implement the provisions of chapter 42.56 RCW relating to public records.

(1) The office of the state treasurer is established by section 1, Article III of the Washington state constitution, headed by an elected official, and empowered to perform all duties prescribed by law. The office of the state treasurer shall throughout this chapter, unless context clearly indicates otherwise, be referred to as the "office." The office also manages the administration of the state finance committee and the public deposit protection commission. More information about the office is available at https://www.tre.wa.gov.

(2) The administrative office of the state treasurer is in the Legislative Building, Olympia, Washington. Its contact information is:

Mail: Office of the State Treasurer

416 Sid Snyder Ave. S.W., 2nd Floor, Room 230

P.O. Box 40200

Olympia, WA 98504-0200

Phone: 360-902-9000

Email: watreas@tre.wa.gov

(3) All communications with the office including, but not limited to, the submission of materials pertaining to its operations and/or the administration or enforcement of chapter 42.56 RCW and these rules, or requests for copies of the office's decisions and other matters, should be sent or directed to the administrative office.

(1) The public records officer is designated by the office pursuant to RCW 42.56.580 and is responsible for the implementation of the office's rules regarding release of public records and ensuring compliance with the public records disclosure requirements of chapter 42.56 RCW.

(2) The public records officer may choose one or more designees to carry out the responsibilities of this chapter including, but not limited to, processing and responding to public records requests.

The office's public records are available for inspection and copying during customary office hours. Absent an emergency or other unforeseen, exigent circumstances, records may be available at the administrative office without an appointment from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., or with an appointment from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. A scheduled appointment is strongly advised to provide time for the identification and retrieval of responsive records prior to your arrival.

(1) The office has implemented an indexing system for the identification and location of records required to be indexed by RCW 42.56.070(5) and 34.05.220(2). The following records, if any, shall be indexed as follows:

(a) Orders, including final orders and adjudicative orders, as defined in RCW 34.05.010 will be indexed chronologically and include the issuance number and topic.

(b) Interpretive or policy statements as defined in RCW 34.05.010 will be indexed chronologically and include the issuance number and topic.

(c) Reports, records relating to boards, commissions, and committees, and records relating to investments will be indexed by name and then chronologically.

(2) Location and availability. The office maintains an index, as described in subsection (1) of this section, and other records available to the public, on its website at https://tre.wa.gov/public-records-index. The index is otherwise available to all persons under the same rules and on the same conditions as are applied to public records available for inspection.

(3) Revising and updating the records index. The index will be reviewed at least annually to ensure it is current and complete. In addition to the indexing system, the office maintains and continually updates its website at https://tre.wa.gov, which includes other documents not covered by the index.

(1) This procedure for requesting public records ensures the office can provide the fullest assistance to requestors; prevent unreasonable invasions of privacy; protect public records from damage or disorganization; and prevent excessive interference with essential functions of the office.

(2) Submitting a request.

(a) Persons seeking public records of the office are strongly encouraged to, before submitting a records request, first review the following website, where many Washington state records are free for viewing and downloading at any time. If any of the web addresses below become inoperable, record seekers may contact the office to learn any replacement addresses or about similar resources:

(i) Https://tre.wa.gov/public-records-index provides a list of records available on the office's website, including data and information related to the state's investments and debt.

(ii) Https://fiscal.wa.gov provides access to Washington state budgets, revenue, and spending data.

(iii) Https://ucp.dor.wa.gov provides a searchable database of unclaimed property held on behalf of Washington residents.

(iv) Https://data.wa.gov provides access to multiple datasets maintained by Washington agencies.

(b) Requests for records under the provisions of the Public Records Act may be submitted to the office in one of the following ways:

(i) Online:https://tre.wa.gov/public-records-requests. Requestors are strongly encouraged to submit requests through the office's secure online Public Records Act portal, which allows requestors to also track the status of their request and easily receive documents of any type or size.

(ii) Email: publicdisclosure@tre.wa.gov

(iii) U.S. mail or delivery:

Washington State Treasurer

Attn: Public Records Officer

416 Sid Snyder Avenue, S.W.

P.O. Box 40200

Olympia, WA 98504-0200

(iv) In person. A request may be submitted to staff at the administrative office during customary office hours. A printed form will be provided to requestors submitting oral requests in person. The completed form will be directed to the public records officer to be processed as described in this chapter.

(c) Each request should include the following information:

(i) Name of requestor;

(ii) Address of requestor;

(iii) Direct contact information, including telephone number and email address, to allow for communication if clarification is required, and for notification when records are available for viewing or retrieval; and

(iv) A clear description identifying the public records requested, including dates of the records or transactions, if appropriate.

(d) Communications seeking office records, but which are sent or provided to unauthorized locations, addresses, or staff may not be accepted as or processed as Public Records Act requests. The office may process such communications as constituent correspondence or general requests for information, as appropriate. Requestors are strongly encouraged to submit their request to the public records officer as directed in (b) and (c) of this subsection.

(1) Upon receipt of a public records request, it will be recorded in the office'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'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 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 deemed 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.

(1) There is no fee to inspect public records. The office may impose a charge for providing copies of public records.

(2) The office does not calculate the actual costs for copying records because doing so would be unduly burdensome for the following reasons:

(a) The office does not have the resources to conduct a study to determine all its actual copying costs;

(b) To conduct such a study would interfere with other essential office functions; and

(c) Through the 2017 legislative process, the public and requesters have commented on and been informed of authorized fees and costs, including for electronic records, provided in RCW 42.56.120 (2)(b) and (c), (3), and (4).

(3) The office may:

(a) Charge for copies of records pursuant to RCW 42.56.120 (2)(b) and (c);

(b) Charge for customized services pursuant to RCW 42.56.120(3);

(c) Charge other copy fees authorized by statutes outside of chapter 42.56 RCW pursuant to RCW 42.56.130; or

(d) Enter into an alternative fee agreement with the requestor under RCW 42.56.120(4).

(4) The charges for copying methods used by the office are summarized in the fee schedule available on the office's website at https://tre.wa.gov.

(5) Before producing public records, the public records officer may require the requestor to pay:

(a) The entire cost in advance of receiving records;

(b) An advance deposit of 10 percent of the estimated fees; or

(c) The payment of the costs of providing an installment before providing that installment.

(6) The public records officer will notify the requestor if fees will be charged and when payment is required.

(7) The office will deem abandoned and administratively close a request as described in WAC 474-01-085(5) when a requestor fails by the payment date to pay in the manner prescribed.

(8) Payment should be made by check or money order to the office of the state treasurer. The office prefers not to receive cash, and it is within the public records officer's discretion to determine the denomination of bills and coins that will be accepted.

(1) Records exempt from disclosure. Some records are exempt from disclosure, in whole or in part. If the office believes that a record is exempt from disclosure and should be withheld, the public records officer will state the specific exemption and provide a brief written explanation of why the record, or a portion of the record, is being withheld. If only a portion of a record is exempt from disclosure, but the remainder is not exempt, the public records officer will redact the exempt portions, provide the nonexempt portions, and indicate to the requestor why portions of the record are being redacted.

(2) Protecting the rights of others. If records to be produced in response to a request contain information that may affect the rights of others, the public records officer may, prior to providing the records, give notice to such others whose rights may be affected by the disclosure. The notice to potentially affected persons may include a copy of the request.

(3) List of individuals. The office is prohibited by statute from disclosing a list of individuals for commercial purposes. The office will require a commercial purpose declaration prior to disclosing a list of individuals. A copy of the commercial purpose declaration may be provided to individuals potentially affected by release of the record if such individuals are notified as described in subsection (2) of this section.

(a) For the purpose of this subsection, individuals means natural persons; provided, however, that a list that includes natural persons and entities or organizations is considered a list of individuals.

(b) For the purpose of this subsection, commercial purposes means activities of a requestor or their affiliates which are reasonably anticipated to result in the generation of revenue or be done for financial benefit.

(1) Requestors are encouraged to communicate with the public records officer regarding denials of public records requests.

(2) Petition for internal administrative review. Any person who objects to the denial or partial denial of a request for a public record may petition for prompt review of such decision by submitting a written request for review to the public records officer at any of the methods of contact provided in this chapter. The written petition must specifically include the office-assigned request number and a copy of any written statement by the public records officer or other staff member which constituted or accompanied the denial.

(3) Consideration of petition for review. Immediately after receiving a written petition for review of a decision denying a public record, the public records officer or other staff member shall refer it to the state treasurer, or the treasurer's designee, who shall consider the matter and either affirm or reverse such denial. In any case, the petition shall be returned with a final decision within two business days following the receipt of the petition for review, or within such other time as the office and the requestor mutually agree.

(4) Review by the office of the attorney general. Pursuant to RCW 42.56.530, if the office denies a requestor access to a public record because it claims the record is exempt in whole or in part from disclosure, the requestor may request the office of the attorney general to review the matter. The attorney general has adopted a protocol for such requests in WAC 44-06-160.

(5) Judicial review. Requestors may obtain court review of denials of their public records requests pursuant to RCW 42.56.550.