Courts and public records laws
UPDATE
As promised, here is a link to the briefs in City of Federal Way v. Koenig, which will require the Supreme Court to reconsider its 1986 decision that exempted courts from the Public Records Act. This is one of two Public Records Act cases Foster Pepper will be arguing on June 9.
Kentucky and West Virginia Courts:
The Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court is posed to issue new rules that may subject state court administrative records to Kentucky's open records law.
The West Virginia Supreme Court has accepted review of a case that will determine whether the Justices' own emails are subject to the state's open records law.
In Washington, the Supreme Court held in 1986 that courts are not "agencies" under the Public Records Act, making court records not subject to the PRA. See Nast v. Michels, 107 Wn.2d 300 (1986).
NOTE FOR FULL DISCLOSURE: In a case set for oral argument before the Washington Supreme Court on June 9, 2009, Foster Pepper will be defending the Nast decision. The appellant in the pending matter before the Court is arguing that Nast should be narrowly interpreted, making most court records subject to disclosure. We will post links to the briefs in that case once the briefs are available on the Supreme Court website.
