029-17 - Ordinance - Amending Chapter 1.18 Public Records RequestsORDINANCE NO. 029-17
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PORT ORCHARD, KITSAP, COUNTY
WASHINGTON, AMENDING PORT ORCHARD MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER
1.18 "PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS"; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY;
AND SETTING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, pursuant to the Public Records Act ("Act"), codified at Ch. 42.56 RCW, the
Washington Legislature requires that each local agency shall provide rules of procedure for the
guidance of the public in making requests for inspection or copying of public records; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to the Act, a local agency shall appoint and publicly identify a public
records officer whose responsibility is to serve as a point of contact for members of the public
in requesting disclosure of public records and to oversee the agency's compliance with the
public records disclosure requirements of the Act; and
WHEREAS, the State Legislators made revisions to the Public Records Act and the City
Council desires to adopt them and modify the City's practices and policies to be consistent with
State law; now therefore,
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORT ORCHARD, WASHINGTON, DO ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1: Section 1.18.010 is hereby amended to read as follows:
Authority and purpose.1.18.010
(1) RCW 42.56.070(1) requires each agency to make available for inspection and copying
nonexempt "public records" in accordance with published rules. The act, at RCW
42.56.010(3), defines "public record" to include any "writing containing information
relating to the conduct of government or the performance of any governmental or
proprietary function prepared, owned, used, or retained" by the agency regardless of
physical form or characteristics, and specifically excludes records that are not otherwise
required to be retained by the agency. RCW 42.56.070(2) requires each agency to set
forth "for informational purposes" every law, in addition to the Public Records Act, that
exempts or prohibits the disclosure of public records held by that agency.
(2) The purpose of this chapter is to establish the procedures the city of Port Orchard
will follow in order to provide full access to public records. These rules provide
information to persons wishing to request access to public records of the city of Port
Orchard and establish processes for both requestors and city of Port Orchard staff that
are designed to best assist members of the public in obtaining such access.
(3) The purpose of the act is to provide the public full access to information concerning
the conduct of government, mindful of individuals' privacy rights and the desirability of
Ordinance No. 029-17
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the efficient administration of government. The act and these rules will be interpreted
in favor of disclosure. In carrying out its responsibilities under the act, the city of Port
Orchard will be guided by the provisions of the act describing its purposes and
interpretation.
(4) The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to court case records and
administrative court records maintained by the Port Orchard municipal court in
connection to judicial proceedings and records related to the management, supervision,
or administration of the court. Access to these records is governed by Washington State
Court Rules General Rule 31, General Rule 31.1, and case law.
(5) The provisions of this chapter shall not be construed to create any additional legal
obligations upon the city or an independent cause of action against the city. (Ord. 014-
14 § 2; Ord. 033-08 § 1).
SECTION 2. Section 1.18.030 is hereby amended to read as follows:
1.18.030 Availability of public records.
(1) Hours for Inspection of Records. Pursuant to the provisions of POMC 1.18.040(7),
once public records are available for inspection and copying, they shall be made
available to the requestor during normal business hours of the city of Port Orchard, 8:00
a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. Records to be
inspected must be viewed at the offices of the city of Port Orchard.
(2) Records Index. The city of Port Orchard finds that maintaining an index is unduly
burdensome and would interfere with city of Port Orchard operations. The requirement
would unduly burden or interfere with city of Port Orchard operations in the following
ways: the magnitude and diversity of documents produced by city of Port Orchard
departments and the employees within the departments, all utilizing their own
computers, has resulted in the creation of many different indexes as created by the
computer user. The diversity in computer program applications utilized on each
personal computer and the organization of documents created by those applications is
impossible to organize into a single index. The city of Port Orchard’s overall mission
does not allow for the addition, revision, or reassignment ofduties for existing personnel
so that a single index can be developed and maintained without hiring additional staff.
Anticipated revenue, along with adopted priorities for expenditures, does not allow for
the hiring of additional staff whose job would be solely devoted to creating and
maintaining a single, all-inclusive index.
(3) Organization of Records. The city of Port Orchard will maintain its records in a
reasonably organized manner. The city of Port Orchard will take reasonable actions to
Ordinance No. 029-17
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protect records from damage and disorganization. A requestor shall not take original
city of Port Orchard records from any of the city of Port Orchard's offices.
(4) Internet Access to Records. Many records are also available on the city's website.
Requestors are encouraged to view the documents available on the website prior to
submitting a public records request.
(5) Making a Request for Public Records. A public records request must be for
identifiable records. A request for all or substantially all records prepared, owned, used,
or retained by the city is not a valid request for identifiable records, provided that a
request for all records regarding a particular topic or containing a particular keyword or
name shall not be considered a request for all of the city's records. Any person wishing
to inspect or copy public records of the city of Port Orchard should make the request in
writing on the city of Port Orchard public records request form, on the Public Records
Center portal on the city's website, by letter, fax, or e-mail addressed to the public
records officer to include the information listed below:
(a) Name of requestor;
(b) Address of requestor, if applicable;
(c) Other contact information, including telephone number and/or e-mail address;
(d) Sufficient identification/description of the public records being sought;
(e) The date of the request; and
(f) Whether the requestor wishes to:
(i) Inspect the records (inspection of records is free of charge);
(ii) Have copies made of the records (cost charged to requestor);
(iii) Have the records copied to disc, if technically feasible (cost of disc charged to
requestor);
(iv) Have the records scanned and provided via email or copied to disc (scanning
cost and disc cost charged to requestor); or
(v) Have the records provided via email, if technically feasible (cost charged to
requestor).
(6) Request Form. A form for requesting public records is available for use by requestors
at City Hall and online at the city's website.
(7) The city may deny a bot request that is one of multiple requests from the requestor
within a twenty-four hour period, as responding to multiple requests of this nature
would cause excessive interference with other essential functions of the city. "Bot
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request" means a request for public records that the city reasonably believes was
automatically generated by a computer program or script.
(8) Accepting Public Records Requests. The public records officer or designee may
accept requests for public records that contain the above information by telephone, fax,
e-mail, from the Public Records Center portal, mail services, or in person.
(9) Readily Available Public Records. In the event the records requested in any
department are readily available, of a routine nature, and do not involve the interest of
any other person, the public records officer or designee may authorize the immediate
inspection and/or copying of such record without the necessity of filing the request as
provided in subsection (5) of this section.
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SECTION 3. Section 1.18.040 is hereby amended to read as follows:
Processing of public records requests; General.1.18.040
(1) Prompt Response. The public records officer or designee will process requests in the
order allowing the most requests to be processed promptly and in the most efficient
manner.
(2) Acknowledging Receipt of Request. Within five business days of receipt of the
request, the public records officer will acknowledge the request in one of the ways
provided in this subsection:
(a) Provide the record;
(b) Provide an Internet address and link on the city's website to the specific records
request, unless the requestor notifies the agency they cannot access the records
through the Internet, then the city must provide copies of the record or allow the
requester to view the copies; If copies are requested, provide the copies to the
requestor after payment for the copies has been made by the requestor, or, if copies
are being released in installments, after payment of a deposit is made pursuant to
POMC 1.18.070;
(c) Acknowledge the request and provide a reasonable estimate of time the city will
require to respond to the request. Additional time needed to respond to a request may
be based upon the need to clarify the intent of the request, to locate and assemble the
documentation requested, to notify third persons or agencies affected by the request,
or to determine whether any of the information in the documentation requested is
exempt and that a denial should be made as to all or part of the request;
(d) Acknowledge the request and ask for clarification of a request that is unclear, and
providing, to the greatest extent possible, a reasonable estimate of the time needed to
respond to the request if it is not clarified;
Ordinance No. 029-17
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(e) If the request is unclear or does not sufficiently identify the requested records,
request clarification from the requestor. Such clarification may be requested and
provided by telephone. The public records officer or designee may revise the estimate
of when records will be available based on the clarification from the requestor. If the
requestor fails to respond to the request to clarify and the entire request is unclear, the
city of Port Orchard need not respond to the request. Otherwise the city will respond to
the portions of the request that are clear; or
i (f) Deny the request accompanied by a written statement of the specific reasons.
(3) Consequences of Failure to Respond. If the city of Port Orchard does not respond in
writing within five business days of receipt of the request for disclosure, the requestor
should consider contacting the public records officer to determine the reason for the
failure to respond.
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(4) Protecting Rights of Others. In the event that the requested records contain
information that may affect the rights of others and may be exempt from disclosure, the
public records officer may, prior to providing the records, give notice to such others
whose rights may be affected by the disclosure. Such notice should be given so as to
make it possible for those other persons to seek an order from a court to prevent or
limit the disclosure. The notice to the affected persons will include a copy of the
request.
(5) Records Exempt from Disclosure. Some records are exempt from disclosure, in whole
or in part. If the city believes that a record is exempt from disclosure and should be
withheld, the public records officer will State the specific exemption and provide a brief
explanation of why the record or a portion of the record is being withheld. If only a
portion of a record is exempt from disclosure, but the remainder is not exempt, the
public records officer will redact the exempt portions, provide the nonexempt portions,
and indicate to the requestor why portions of the record are being redacted.
(6) Privilege Log. If the city determines that a record is exempt and should be withheld,
in whole or in part, the city will maintain a privilege log of those records. The privilege
log will identify:
(a) Type of record withheld;
(b) Date of record;
(c) Number of pages;
(d) Author and/or recipient;
(e) The exemption invoked; and
(f) Brief explanation of the exemption.
Ordinance No. 029-17
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A copy of the privilege log will be produced to the records requestor.
(7) Inspection of Records. If a requestor seeks an opportunity to inspect public records,
and once the records are available for inspection, the following provisions apply:
(a) Consistent with other demands, the city of Port Orchard shall promptly provide
space to inspect public records. No member of the public may remove a document
from the viewing area or disassemble or alter any document. The requestor shall
indicate which documents he or she wishes the agency to copy. The public records
officer or designee will be present when records are being inspected.
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(b) The requestor must claim or review the assembled records within 30 days of the
city of Port Orchard notification to him or her that the records are available for
inspection or copying. The city will notify the requestor in writing of this
requirement and inform the requestor that he or she should contact the city to
make arrangements to claim or review the records. If the requestor or a
representative of the requestor fails to claim or review the records within the 30-day
period or make other arrangements, the city of Port Orchard may close the request
and re-file the assembled records. Other public records requests can be processed
ahead of a subsequent request by the same person for the same or almost identical
records, which can be processed as a new request.
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(8) Providing Copies of Records. After inspection is complete, the public records officer
or designee shall make any requested copies or arrange for copying.
|(9) Providing Records in Installments. When the request is for a large number of records,
the public records officer or designee will provide access for inspection and copying in
installments, if he or she reasonably determines that it would be practical to provide the
records in that way. If, within 30 days, the requestor fails to inspect either the entire set
of records made available, or one or more of the installments made available, the public
records officer or designee may stop searching for the remaining records and close the
request.
(10) Completion of Inspection. When the inspection of the requested records is
complete and all requested copies are provided, the public records officer or designee
will indicate that the city of Port Orchard has completed a diligent search for the
requested records and made any located nonexempt records available for inspection
and/or copying.
(11) Closing Withdrawn or Abandoned Request. When the requestor either withdraws
the request or fails to fulfill his or her obligations to inspect the records or pay the
deposit or final payment for the requested copies, the public records officer will close
the request and indicate to the requestor that the city of Port Orchard has closed the
request.
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(12) Later Discovered Documents. If, after the city of Port Orchard has informed the
requestor that it has provided all available records, the city of Port Orchard becomes
aware of additional responsive documents existing at the time of the request, it will
promptly inform the requestor of the additional documents and make the records
available for inspection or copying.
(13) No Duty to Create Records. The city is not obligated to create a new record in order
to satisfy a request for records.
SECTION 4. Section 1.18.070 is hereby amended to read as follows:j
Costs of providing copies of public records.1.18.070
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(1) The city of Port Orchard finds that calculating the actual cost to charge the requestor
is unduly burdensome and would interfere with the city of Port Orchard operations.
The amount of work involved in calculating the cost in providing copies for all
separate requests would require a significate portion of one employee's time. The
city of Port Orchard's overall mission does not allow for the addition, revision, or
reassignment of duties for existing personnel so that these calculations can be done
without hiring additional staff. Anticipated revenue, along with adopted priorities
for expenditures, does not allow for the hiring of an additional employee for this
purpose.
The city will charge the requestor for photocopies or electronically produced copies
of public records in accordance with the charges set forth in RCW 42.56.120(2).
Pursuant to that statute, the city will provide, upon request, a summary of the
applicable charges before any copies are made to allow the requestor to revise the
request to reduce the number of copies to be made and reduce the applicable
charges.
(2) If a request requires the use of a commercial copy service, including but not limited
to large-copy projects, color copies, and over-sized copies, the costs for copies will be
the actual cost of the copies charged by such outside vendor.
The public records officer or designee may require a deposit of up to 10 percent of the
estimated costs of copying the records selected or requested, including customized
service charges. The public records officer or designee may also require payment in full
of the remainder of the copying costs before providing all the records, after deducting
any deposit paid. The public records officer or designee may request payment in full of
the cost of copying an installment of records before providing that installment. The city
of Port Orchard will not charge sales tax when copies of public records are reproduced
at City Hall; however, if copies must be sent to an outside vendor for copying, the cost
of sales tax will be charged to the requestor.
Ordinance No. 029-17
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(3) Costs for Electronic Records. The cost of providing electronic copies of records on a
CD-ROM disc will be the actual cost. If electronically produced copies are being provided
by email or through the Public Records Portal, cost for the records will be in accordance
with RCW 42.56.120.
(4) Costs of Mailing. The city of Port Orchard may charge actual costs of mailing,
including the cost of a shipping container; and the actual cost of long distance fax
transmission.
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(5) Payment. Payment for the costs of records may be made by cash, check, or money
order made payable to the city of Port Orchard.
(6) Other statutes govern charges for particular kinds of records. As examples, RCW
46.52.085 (charges for traffic accident reports); RCW 10.97.100 (copies of criminal
histories); RCW 3.62.060 and 3.62.065 (charges for certain records maintained by
courts).]
(7) The requestor may challenge the city's fee estimate when the requestor believes the
city has not made a "reasonable estimate of the charges to produce the copies of
records" by seeking judicial review of the city's action by filing a motion in Kitsap County
Superior Court pursuant to the provisions of RCW 42.56.550.
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i (8) The city of Port Orchard has the discretion to waive charges for photocopies or
electronically produced copies of public records. The city may also enter into a contract,
memorandum of understanding, or other agreement with a requestor that provides an
alternative fee arrangement to the charges authorized in RCW 42.56.120, or in response
to a voluminous or frequently occurring request. The city will waive copying charges for
documents that are less than 15 pages or the cost of up to two compact discs for
administrative convenience, per request. (Ord. 014-14 § 8; Ord. 033-08 § 1).
SECTION 5. Severability. If any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance
should be held to be unconstitutional or unlawful by a court of competent jurisdiction, such
invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of any other
section, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance.
SECTION 6. Publication. This Ordinance shall be published by an approved summary
consisting of the title.
SECTION 7. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall take effect and be in full force and
effect five days after publication, as provided by law.
PASSED by the City Council of the City of Port Orchard, APPROVED by the Mayor and
attested by the Clerk in authentication of such passage this 22nd day of August 2017.
Ordinance No. 029-17
Page 9 of 9
Robert PutaangnH, Mayor
ATTEST:
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Brandy Rinearson, CMC, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:Sponsored by:
Scott Diener, Councilmembern Cates, City Attorney
September 1, 2017
September 6, 2017
PUBLISHED:
EFFECTIVE DATE:
NOTICE OF CITY OF PORT ORCHARD
ORDINANCE
The following is a summary of an Ordinance approved by the Port Orchard City Council at their regular Council
meeting held August 22, 2017.
ORDINANCE NO. 029-17
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PORT ORCHARD, KITSAP, COUNTY
WASHINGTON, AMENDING PORT ORCHARD MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER
1.18 “PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS”; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND
SETTING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
Copies of Ordinance No. 029-17 are available for review at the office of the City Clerk of the City of Port Orchard.
Upon written request, a statement of the full text of the Ordinance will be mailed to any interested person without
charge. Thirty days after publication, copies of Ordinance No. 029-17 will be provided at a nominal charge.
City of Port Orchard
Brandy Rinearson
City Clerk
Published: Friday, September 1