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Public records requests

Learn more about how records requests work and submit yours. Also get contact information for departmental public records officers.

Promoting the efficient administration of government 

State and county law allows the public to examine most records about government conduct. The laws are mindful of providing access while protecting individual privacy rights.

Many records are available online and free of charge. Some of them include:

The County is divided into 9 separate agencies for the purposes of the Public Records Act. Submit your records requests to the agencies listed below:

How records requests work

The public records officer does one or more of the following within 5 business days of receiving a request:

  • Makes the records available to the requestor for inspection or copying
  • Sends copies to the requestor
  • Sends payment terms if requested

If copies are not immediately available, the officer will do the following:

  • Provide the requestor a reasonable estimate of when the records will be available
  • Ask for clarification from the requestor if the request is unclear or it doesn't identify specific records

Requesters may provide clarification by telephone. In such cases, the public records officer will produce a written record of the clarification. Based on the clarification, the public records officer may revise the estimate of when records will be available.

If the requestor fails to clarify their request, the agency may choose not to respond further

A department may deny the request and notify the requestor of the denial. It will include a written statement of the specific reasons for the denial

All records are released if they don't fall within the Public Records Act's specific exemptions or statutes that exempt or prohibit the disclosure of detailed information or documents.

Possible bases for exemption may be found in chapter 42.56 RCW at https://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=42.56. The Public Records Officer will describe why each withheld record or redacted part of a record is exempt from disclosure.

Fee structure for requested records

 Service  Cost
 Public records inspection  Free
 Paper copies  15 cents per page
 Scanned copies  10 cents per page
 Electronic transmission  5 cents for every 4 electronic files or attachments OR 10 cents per gigabyte
 Digital storage media or device (provided by the legislative branch)  Actual cost
 Shipping costs and packaging  Actual cost

A deposit of up to 10% of the estimated copying costs may be required. Additional fees are assessed if extra preparation or customized access is necessary

Cash, checks, and money orders are the only accepted forms of payment. Please make checks and money orders payable to: King County Treasury.

Request records by department

Get records from agencies such as Council, Elections, Assessor, and the courts. Use the GovQA online portal to get started.

Contact the agencies directly for questions about records requests:

King County Council, Personnel Board, Board of Appeals, Forecast Council, Office of Economic and Financial Analysis (OEFA), independent agencies

Email: clerk.council@kingcounty.gov

Phone: 206-477-1020

Johanna Loomis, Legislative Records Manager

Address: Clerk of the Council’s Office, Metropolitan King County Council

King County Courthouse

516 Third Avenue, Room 1200

Seattle, Washington 98104

Assessor

Email: al.dams@kingcounty.gov

Phone: 206-263-4159

Address: King Street Center

201 S. Jackson St. Room 708

Seattle, Washington 98104

Elections

Email: election.services@kingcounty.gov

Phone: 206-296-1565

Address: 919 Southwest Grady Way

Renton, W  98057-2906

Executive Branch

Email: pra.requests@kingcounty.gov

Phone: 206-263-2250

Address: 201 S. Jackson Street, Suite 320

Seattle, Washington 98104

Office of the Ombuds

Email: ombuds.pra@kingcounty.gov

Phone: 206-477-1050

Address: 810 Third Avenue, Suite 705

Seattle, Washington 98104

Prosecutor

Email: paopublicdisclosure@kingcounty.gov

Phone: 206-477-3296

Address: King County Courthouse

516 Third Avenue W-400

Seattle, Washington 98104

Sheriff

Email: kcsodisclosure@kingcounty.gov

Phone: 206-263-2103

Address: King County Courthouse

516 Third Avenue, Room W-150

Seattle, Washington 98104

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