County Council increases transparency and access of public records

June 27, 2011

Summary

Ordinance creates a “proactive” disclosure process

Story

The Metropolitan King County Council gave its unanimous approval today to a more open and comprehensive public records process. The Council adopted an ordinance that directs County agencies to inform people if other agencies are likely to have records pertaining to their search and also to explain circumstances responsible for unusual delays in completing to public records requests.

“With today’s action, we are continuing to build on our recent work to improve the transparency and accountability of County government,” said Councilmember Bob Ferguson, who sponsored the legislation.

The ordinance directs all County agency public records officers who believe another County agency is likely to have records responsive to a request to inform the requester of appropriate contact information for that agency’s public records officer. A requirement that each King County agency submit an annual report to the Council about the handling of public disclosure requests was part of the overhaul of King County’s public disclosure process in 2009.

To facilitate continued Council oversight, the adopted ordinance also requires those reports to include an explanation of the circumstances in the few unusual instances where it takes longer than six months to complete the request. In addition, County agencies must indicate for each request whether the agency responded to public disclosure requests within five days, as required by law.

In 2009, Councilmember Ferguson led the effort to reform the County’s public disclosure process and simplify it for the public. Those reforms came in the wake of two high-profile cases against King County alleging that it had not produced public records in a timely fashion. The reforms incorporated recommendations from the Attorney General’s model rules for public disclosure.