Local Open Government Blog : Open Government Law : Foster Pepper Law Firm : Northwest, Seattle, Spokane, Portland Lawyer & Attorney

A recent Court of Appeals decision may mark the end of a decade-long saga involving a Washington county’s violation of the Washington Public Records Act (PRA). Armen Yousoufian had found earlier success with the courts and had been awarded $371,340 for King County’s failure to comply with the PRA. See Yousoufian v. Office of Ron Sims, et al., 168 Wn.2d 444, 229 P.3d 735 (2010). The most recent decision in the long line of Yousoufian decisions found that the County was responsible for post-judgment interest, retroactive to the date of the initial judgment against the County in August 2005.

The decision by the Court of Appeals is not published, and therefore is not binding precedent. However, it does provide legal framework for similar claims arising out of a PRA judgment. In addition, the Court awarded further attorney fees to Yousoufian arising from his successful appeal.
 

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The Washington State Department of Revenue (DOR) uses a “ratio audit” to evaluate the property value of real and personal property in each of Washington’s 39 counties. The valuation of property in each of the counties is then compared against a total valuation of property in the state. The ratio audits are used by DOR to equalize yearly property taxes, and also to assist in calculating each county’s state school levy.

A former King County assessor and his daughter separately requested the disclosure of DOR’s tax ratio audits from King County. The tax ratio audit data would disclose tax information about the private properties subject to audit. King County and DOR rejected the requests under the state’s Public Records Act, chapter 42.56 RCW (PRA) Two separate actions to compel disclosure followed. The trial court dismissed each of the actions. The Court of Appeals reached the merits of the cases, notwithstanding that both of the appeals from the trial court actions were procedurally defective. The Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of the PRA suits.
Harley H. Hoppe & Associates, App/cross-res. v. King County, Res/cross-app (May 23, 2011).

One of the listed exemptions under the PRA is for “information required of any taxpayer in connection with the assessment or collection of any tax.” RCW 42.56.230(3). The court agreed with the County and with DOR that the specific exemption applied to the requested records relating to individual property’s personal and real property valuations. Publishing such proprietary business information obtained by the DOR in the course of its audit would disadvantage the audited taxpayer. The Court also relied on the reference in RCW 42.56.230(3) to RCW 84.08.210(2) that broadly states that “tax information is confidential and privileged, and except as authorized by this section, neither [DOR] nor any other person may disclose tax information.” The Court of Appeals found that there were no exceptions, applicable to the case, to the general prohibition on disclosure of tax information.
 

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The King County Council recently took action to ensure that the County’s use of social media, including Twitter and Facebook, complies with the County’s obligations under various King County and Washington public record laws, including Chapter 2.14 K.C.C. and Chapters 40.14 and 42.56 RCW. 

A number of County agencies are beginning to use online social media to engage and communicate with the public.  For example, Metro Transit uses its Twitter page to update commuters on the status of various bus routes – a tool that was especially important during the recent November snow storm. In light of the growing use of Facebook, King County Elections now uses its Facebook page to encourage young voter registration and to educate King County residents about the County’s mail-in ballot system. The King County Council wants to ensure that public posts on these and other County social media sites comply with public record laws.

The ordinance passed by the King County Council (Ordinance 2010-0507, Dec. 13, 2010) created a Social Media Advisory Group responsible for providing the Council with policy options for ensuring ongoing compliance. The Advisory Group will be made up of four representatives of the King County Public Records Committee, together with representatives from various King County agencies and local not-for-profit agencies.

The Advisory Group is to produce a Social Media Policy Options Report for the Council by March 31, 2011. The report is to include a range of policy recommendations, including: (1) options for effective use of social media to communicate with the public; (2) an online training module for employees authorized to use social media on behalf of King County; (3) a description of existing policies and laws that regulate King County’s use of social media; and, (4) options for cost effective ways to address the public records retention requirements.

The Ordinance also directs King County agencies to identify those employees authorized to use social media for County business and to ensure that those employees complete the training program developed by the advisory group. 

The list of public agencies using social media continues to grow. As new forms of social media are developed and adopted, government agencies should be proactive to ensure compliance with applicable public record laws. See Sven Peterson’s article: “Public Records can only be Destroyed in Accordance with Appropriate Records Retention and Destruction Policies.”  

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Yousoufian v. Office of Ron Sims, __ Wn.2d __, __ P.3d __ (March 25, 2010), is the fifth appellate court decision in a public records dispute that began with a request for records related to a proposed new sports stadium in 1997. The Washington Supreme Court recalled the mandate it had already issued following its 2009 opinion, 165 Wn.2d 439, 200 P.3d 232 (Jan. 15, 2009), and now modifies and affirms the Court of Appeals decision found at 137 Wn.App. 69, 151 P.3d 243 (2007). The final issue was the amount of daily penalties a trial court should award for King County’s violations of the Public Records Act, ch. 42.56 RCW. In this 5-4 opinion, the majority laid out a set of seven nonexclusive “mitigating factors” and nine nonexclusive “aggravating factors” for trial court consideration in determining the appropriate daily penalty from the mandatory statutory range of $5-$100. RCW 42.56.550. The chief considerations are the compliance effort by the agency and the impact of the agency’s action—with the higher penalties reserved for those cases in which some form of “sting” appears necessary to force the agency to pay attention to its disclosure obligations.

This round of appeals began when the trial court decided the daily penalty should be $15. The appellate court reversed, and remanded for a higher daily penalty determination by the trial court, whose discretion is virtually unlimited by statute. The Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals, but with a twist. In a highly unusual decision criticized by the dissent, the majority declined to issue yet another mandate to the trial court, but instead determined the daily penalty itself -- $45 per day. The resulting penalty -- $371,000.00 -‑ is the highest PRA judgment on record in this State. As the dissent notes, it is not readily apparent how the Supreme Court applied its factors to come up with the $45 daily penalty. While the majority’s goal was to guide trial courts and thus limit the number of PRA appeals, it remains to be seen whether the nonexclusive 16-factor approach will achieve that end.

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Update 7/5

What does this mean for other PRA cases?  If you have a case at the penalty stage, I'd probably seek a stay because unless the Court adopts the identical test,  if you do it now you'll just have to do it again later.

Original Post

The Washington State Supreme Court has withdrawn its January Opinion in the long-running Yousoufian v. Office of Ron Sims case.  In that Opinion, the Supreme Court had ruled that the $124,000 Public Records Act penalty award against King County was too small.  The Opinion adopted 16 factors trial courts should use to set penalty amounts.  For more details on the Opinion, see this MRSC article.

King County had moved to have the Opinion withdrawn after it was revealed that the Opinion author, Justice Richard Sanders, had a pending appeal in a Public Records Act case, where he was relying on his Yousoufian Opinion to argue that his judgment against the State should be increased.  In light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court holding in Caperton v. Massey that a West Virginia Supreme Court Justice's decision not to recuse himself violated due process, this result is not surprising. 

Here is an article in the Seattle Times on the Supreme Court's ruling.  Here is a post on the Supreme Court Blog about the order. 

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