Dunn and Dembowski Introduce Legislation to Retain Instant Messages Sent Between King County Employees for the Public Record

February 20, 2025

On Thursday, February 20, King County Councilmembers Reagan Dunn and Rod Dembowski introduced an ordinance that would end the county’s practice of automatically deleting instant messages that are sent between county employees. This legislation would preserve future instant messages related to county business as part of the public record.

"As communication technology advances, it’s important that King County adapts its records retention policies to reflect the reality of how instant messaging platforms are used by county employees,” said Dunn. “Transparency is critical to safeguard trust in government, and any electronic record of discussions over policy issues needs to be preserved and made accessible to the public.”

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when remote work became prominent, a significant amount of communications between county employees shifted to Microsoft Teams instant messaging. Currently, King County’s policy is to not preserve these instant messages, though other forms of written communication—including emails, handwritten notes, and text messages—are retained.

“In 1972, Washington voters passed the Public Records Act. Back then, it was paper files that were protected for public review. But today’s office has evolved significantly, including with instant messaging systems on many computer desktops. While I do not use the Teams messaging system, many county employees do, and depending on settings and archiving practices, there is risk that records that should be retained, are not retained,” said Dembowski. “That’s why I’m co-sponsoring this legislation to ensure that King County fully complies with our state’s strong public records law and that our public records retention laws and policies at King County reflect the changing technological landscape of today’s workplace.”

Washington State Governor Bob Ferguson recently acted to suspend the automatic deletion of instant messages at state agencies. This ordinance would implement a similar policy at King County, bringing state and county retention policies into cohesion. Specifically, the ordinance would direct the Executive to ensure that all instant messages are retained and not deleted until reviewed for compliance with King County’s current record retention policies.

Dunn and Dembowski’s legislation will be referred to the Government Accountability and Oversight Committee, where it will be heard in the coming weeks. If approved by the Council, it will go into effect on July 1, 2025.