http://www.localopengovernment.com/articles/public-records/ en-us Copyright 2011 Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:15:26 -0800 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 07:33:55 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss On October 13, 2009, Washington State Court of Appeals (Division II) affirmed a trial court’s summary judgment in a public records case brought by the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW). BIAW sued Pierce County when the County did not produce certain email records that the BIAW had located from a different agency. The court ruled that emails from the Washington Secretary of State’s office to the Pierce County Auditor had been properly deleted pursuant to the applicable retention policies. The Court further held that the State’s Public Records Act (PRA) does not authorize a requestor to comb through agency records searching for records that do not exist.

At issue were several informational emails that were sent by the Secretary of State to all county auditors regarding voter registration forms submitted by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). When these emails were not produced by Pierce County in response to a public records request, BIAW sued, arguing that the County was withholding the emails in violation of the PRA or had destroyed them in violation of Washington State's Preservation and Destruction of Public Records Act, chapter 40.14 RCW. In response the County contended that the emails had likely been deleted pursuant to its general records policies since the emails were purely informational. The County submitted affidavits to the trial court demonstrating its office policies and procedures, the use of email, and what had happened in the particular circumstances involved.

The Court agreed with the County, stating that BIAW had failed to introduce evidence contradicting the County’s affidavits. The Court also noted that the County’s procedures comply with applicable retention policies published by the Secretary of State regarding informational only emails; and, that destruction of records in accordance with retention policies is allowed as long as no public records request for those records is outstanding at the time of destruction. Neither the trial court nor the appellate court reached the issue of whether the improper deletion of a record in violation of chapter 40.14 RCW would constitute a separate violation of the PRA.

]]> http://www.localopengovernment.com/2009/10/articles/public-records/washington-appellate-court-rules-that-destruction-of-informationalonly-emails-pursuant-to-a-records-retention-policy-does-not-violate-the-public-records-act/ http://www.localopengovernment.com/2009/10/articles/public-records/washington-appellate-court-rules-that-destruction-of-informationalonly-emails-pursuant-to-a-records-retention-policy-does-not-violate-the-public-records-act/ ACORNAssociation of Community Organizations for Reform NowBIAWBuilding Industry Association of WashingtonElectronic RecordsPublic RecordsPublic Records ActWashington State Court of Appeals Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:15:26 -0800 Foster Pepper Municipal Group