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Home My WebLink AboutGR31.1GR31.1 ACCESSTO ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS GENERALPRINCIPLES a) PolicyandPurpose. Consistent withthe principlesofopenadministration ofjusticeas provided inarticleI, section 10 oftheWashington State Constitution, itisthepolicyofthe judiciary tofacilitateaccess toadministrative records. Apresumption ofaccess appliestothe Access to administrative records, however, isnot absolute andshall beconsistent withexemptionsforpersonalprivacy, restrictions instatutes, restrictions incourtrules, andasrequired fortheintegrity ofjudicialdecision-making. Access shall not unduly burden thebusinessofthejudiciary. b) OverviewofPublicAccesstoJudicial Records. Therearethreecategories ofjudicial records. 1)Caserecords arerecords thatrelatetoin-courtproceedings, including casefiles, dockets, calendars, andthelike. Publicaccesstothese records isgoverned byGR andnotbythisGR31.1. UnderGR31, theserecords arepresumptivelyopentopublicaccess, subjectto statedexceptions. 2)Administrativerecords arerecordsthatrelate tothemanagement, supervision, or administrationofacourtorjudicialagency. Amorespecific definition of isinsection (i) ofthis rule. Undersection (j) ofthis rule, administrative recordsare presumptively opentopublicaccess, subjectto exceptions foundinsections (j) and (l) ofthisrule. 3)Chambers records arerecords thatarecontrolled andmaintained by chambers. Amorespecific definition ofthistermisinsection (m) of thisrule. Undersection (m), chambers recordsarenot open topublicaccess. PROCEDURES FORADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS c) Procedures forRecordsRequests. 1)COURTSAND JUDICIALAGENCIES TO ADOPTPROCEDURES. Each court andjudicial agencymustadoptapolicyimplementingthis ruleandsetting forthitsproceduresfor acceptingandresponding toadministrativerecords requests. The policymust includethedesignation of apublic records officerand shallrequire thatrequests fromtheidentified individual or, ifanentity, an identifiedentity representative, besubmitted inwritingtothedesignatedpublic recordsofficer. Bestpractices forhandling administrative recordsrequests shall bedeveloped undertheauthorityoftheBoardforJudicial Administration. COMMENT: Whenadopting policiesandprocedures, courtsandjudicialagencieswill needtocarefully consider many issues, includingthe extenttowhichjudicialemployees mayusepersonally ownedcomputers andothermedia devicestoconductofficial businessandtheextenttowhich thecourtor agency willrelyontheindividual employee tosearchhisorherpersonally ownedmediadevices fordocuments inresponsetoa recordsrequest. Forjudicialofficersandtheirchambers staff, documents onpersonal mediadevicesmay stillqualify aschambersrecords, seesection (m) ofthis rule. 2)PUBLICATION OFPROCEDURESFORREQUESTINGADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS. Eachcourt andjudicial agency must prominently publishthe procedures forrequestingaccessto itsadministrative records. Ifthecourtor judicialagencyhasa website, theproceduresmustbeincluded there. The telephone number, faxnumber, and e-mailaddress. 3)INITIALRESPONSE. Eachcourt andjudicialagency mustinitially respond toa writtenrequestforaccessto anadministrative recordwithin fiveworkingdaysof itsreceipt, butforcourtsthatconvene infrequentlynomorethan30calendar days, from thedate ofitsreceipt. Theresponseshallacknowledgereceipt ofthe requestandincludea good-faithestimateof thetimeneededto respond to the request. Theestimate maybelater revised, ifnecessary. Forpurposes of this rulecourt or judicialagency, including apart- timemunicipal court, isopen. 4)COMMUNICATION WITHREQUESTER. Eachcourtandjudicial agencymust communicate withtherequester asnecessary to clarifytherecordsbeing requested. Thecourtorjudicial agencymay alsocommunicate withtherequester dwith a response otherthanthe oneactuallyrequested. 5)SUBSTANTIVERESPONSE. Eachcourt andjudicialagencymust respondto thesubstance oftherecords request withinthetimeframe specified inthe orjudicial request. Ifthecourtorjudicialagency isunabletofully complyin thistimeframe, thenthecourtorjudicialagency should comply totheextentpracticableandprovide anewgoodfaithestimate for respondingtotheremainder ofthe request. Ifthecourtorjudicialagency does notfullysatisfy therecords requestinthemannerrequested, thecourtorjudicial agency mustjustify inwriting anydeviation fromthetermsoftherequest. 6)EXTRAORDINARY REQUESTS LIMITEDBYRESOURCE CONSTRAINTS. Ifaparticularrequestis ofamagnitude that thecourtorjudicialagency cannot fullycomply within areasonabletimeduetoconstraints onthe judicial courtorjudicialagencyshall communicatethisinformation tothe requester. Thecourtorjudicialagency must attempt toreach agreement withtherequesterastonarrowing therequest toa moremanageable scopeandastoa timeframe forthe response, whichmayincludeaschedule ofinstallmentresponses. Ifthecourtor judicialagencyandrequester areunable toreachagreement, then thecourtor judicialagencyshallrespond totheextent practicableandinform therequester thatthecourtorjudicial agencyhascompleted itsresponse. 7)RECORDS REQUESTS THAT INVOLVE HARASSMENT, INTIMIDATION, THREATSTOSECURITY, ORCRIMINALACTIVITY. Acourtor judicial agency maydenyarecordsrequest ifitdetermines that: the request wasmade to harassorintimidate thecourtorjudicialagency oritsemployees; fulfilling the request wouldlikely threaten thesecurityofthecourtorjudicial agency; fulfilling therequestwouldlikelythreatenthesafety orsecurity ofjudicialofficers, staff, family members ofjudicial officersorstaff, oranyotherperson; or fulfillingthe request mayassistcriminal activity. d) Review ofRecordsDecision. 1) apublic recordsrequest shall includeawrittensummaryoftheproceduresunder which therequesting partymayseek furtherreview. 2) petitionundersection (d decision mustbesubmitted within90days decision. 3)INTERNAL REVIEW WITHIN COURTORAGENCY. Eachcourtandjudicial agency shallprovidea methodforreviewbythejudicial presidingjudge, orjudgedesignated bythepresidingjudge. Forajudicial agency, thepresidingjudge shall be thepresidingjudge ofthecourtthatoversees theagency. Thecourtorjudicial agencymay alsoestablish intermediate levelsof review. Thecourtorjudicial agency shallmakepublicly availabletheapplicable forms. Thereviewproceeding isinformal andsummary. Thereview proceeding shallbeheld withinfiveworking days, butfor courtsthatconveneinfrequentlyno morethan30 calendar days, fromthe datethecourt oragencyreceivestherequest forreview. Ifthatis notreasonably possible, thenwithin fiveworkingdaysthe reviewshallbescheduledfortheearliestpracticaldate. 4)EXTERNAL REVIEW. Upontheexhaustion of remediesundersection (d)(3), a recordrequesteraggrievedbyacourtoragencydecisionmayobtain further review bychoosingbetweenthetwoalternatives setforthinsubsections (i) and ii) ofthissection (d)(4). i)REVIEWVIACIVIL ACTION INCOURT. Therequesting person may useajudicial writofmandamus, prohibition, orcertiorarito fileacivil action insuperior courtchallenging therecordsdecision. COMMENT: Subsection (i) doesnotcreateanynew judicialremedies, but merelyrecognizes existingproceduresforinitiatingacivilactionincourt. ii)INFORMAL REVIEW BY VISITING JUDGE OROTHEROUTSIDE DECISION MAKER. The requestingperson mayseek informalreview byapersonoutside thecourtorjudicialagency. Iftherequesting person seeksreviewofadecision madebyacourtormadebyajudicialagency thatisdirectly reportabletoacourt, theoutsidereview shall beby a visiting judicialofficer. If therequesting personseeksreviewofa decision madebyajudicialagencythatisnotdirectlyreportable toa court, theoutsidereview shallbeby aperson agreeduponby the requestingpersonandthejudicial agency. In theeventtherequesting personand thejudicial agency cannotagreeuponaperson, thepresiding superiorcourtjudgein thecounty inwhich thejudicialagencyis located shall eitherconductthereview orappoint apersontoconductthe review. Thereview proceedingshall beinformalandsummary. The decision resultingfromtheinformal reviewproceeding maybefurther reviewedin superiorcourtpursuanttoawritofmandamus, prohibition, orcertiorari. Decisionsmade byajudge underthis subsection (ii) arepartofthe judicialfunction. iii)DEADLINEFORSEEKING EXTERNALREVIEW. Arequestfor externalreviewmust besubmitted within30daysofthe issuance ofthe ecisionundersection (d)(3). e) MonetaryAwards NotAllowed. Attorneyfees, costs, civilpenalties, orfinesmay not beawarded under this rule. f) Persons WhoAreSubjects ofRecords. 1)Unlessotherwise required or prohibited bylaw, acourtorjudicial agency hasthe optionof notifyingapersonnamedinarecord ortowhom arecord specifically pertains, thataccesstotherecordhasbeenrequested. 2) Aperson who isnamedinarecord, or towhom arecordspecificallypertains, maypresent informationopposingthedisclosure to theapplicabledecision maker under sections (c) and (d). 3) Ifacourt orjudicial agency decides toallowaccessto arequested record, a person whoisnamedinthatrecord, ortowhom therecordspecificallypertains, hasarighttoinitiatereview under subsections (d)(3)-(4) ortoparticipate asa partytoanyreview initiatedbyarequesterundersubsections (d)(3)-(4). Ifeither therecord subjectortherecord requester objects toinformalreviewunder subsection (d)(4)(ii), suchalternative shall notbeavailable. Thedeadlinesthat applytoarequester apply aswelltoapersonwho isasubjectofarecord. g) Court andJudicial Agency Rules. Eachcourtmayfrom timetotimemakeandamend localrules governingaccesstoadministrative recordsnotinconsistent withthisrule. Each judicialagency mayfromtimetotimemake andamend agency rulesgoverning accesstoits administrative recordsnotinconsistent withthisrule. h) Charging ofFees. 1)Afeemaynotbechargedtoviewadministrative records, except therequester maybecharged forresearchrequiredtolocate, obtain, orprepare therecordsat theratesetforthinsection (h)(4). 2)Afeemaybechargedforthephotocopying orscanning ofadministrativerecords. Ifanothercourt rule orstatute specifies theamountofthefeeforaparticulartype ofrecord, that ruleorstatute shall control. Otherwise, theamountofthefeemay notexceed theamountthatisauthorized inthePublicRecordsAct, chapter42.56 RCW. 3)Thecourtorjudicial agency mayrequire adepositinanamount nottoexceedthe estimated costofproviding copiesforarequest. Ifacourtor judicialagency makes arequest availableonapartial orinstallment basis, thecourtorjudicial agency maycharge foreach partof therequest as itisprovided. Ifan installment ofa records requestisnotclaimedor reviewed within30 days, thecourt or judicialagencyisnotobligatedtofulfillthebalance oftherequest. 4)Afeenotto exceed $30perhour maybechargedfor research andpreparation services requiredtofulfillarequest takinglonger thanone hour. Thefeeshallbe assessedfrom thesecond hour onward. COMMENT: Theauthoritytocharge forresearchservicesis discretionary, allowing courtsto balancethecompeting interestsbetween recovering thecostsoftheirresponse andensuringtheopenadministration ofjustice. Thefeeshould notexceed theactual costs ofresponse. 5) Acourtorjudicial agencymayrequireprepayment offees. APPLICATIONOFRULEFORADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS Thisruleapplies toall administrative records, regardless ofthephysical formoftherecord, the methodofrecording therecord, orthemethod ofstorageoftherecord. i) Definitions. 1) means theabilitytovieworobtaina copyofanadministrative record. 2) courtorjudicial agency andrelated tothemanagement, supervision, or administration ofthecourt orjudicialagency. COMMENT: sclientfilesthatwouldotherwisebecovered bytheattorney- client privilege ortheattorney workproduct privilege. 3) 4) J Application of theCodeof JudicialConduct Section (A). 5) corporation, association, federal, state, orlocalgovernmental entity oragency, howeverconstituted, oranyother organization orgroupofpersons, however organized. 5) containing information relatingtotheconduct ofgovernment ortheperformance ofanygovernmental orproprietaryfunction prepared, owned, used, orretained by anycourt orjudicialagency regardless ofphysicalformorcharacteristics. COMMENT: 240P.3d1149 (2010) 6) andeveryothermeansofrecordinganyformofcommunication orrepresentation including, butnotlimitedto, letters, words, pictures, sounds, orsymbols, or combination thereof, andall papers, maps, magneticor papertapes, photographic films andprints, motion picture, filmand videorecordings, magneticorpunched cards, discs, drums, diskettes, soundrecordings, andotherdocumentsincluding existing datacompilations fromwhichinformationmaybeobtained ortranslated. COMMENT: E-mails andtelephone records areincludedin thisbroaddefinition of j) Administrative RecordsGeneral RightofAccess. Courtandjudicialagency administrative recordsareopentopublicaccessunlessaccess is exemptedorprohibitedunder thisrule, othercourtrules, federal statutes, state statutes, court orders, orcase law. Totheextent thatrecordsaccess wouldbeexemptorprohibitedifthe PublicRecords Actappliedtothe Tothe extentthatanambiguityexists astowhetherrecords access would beexempt orprohibitedunder thisruleorotherenumerated sources, responders andreviewing authorities shall beguidedby thePublicRecordsAct, chapter 42.56RCW, inmakinginterpretations underthisrule. In addition, to theextentrequired to prevent asignificant risktoindividualprivacyorsafety interests, acourtorjudicialagencyshalldeleteidentifying details inamannerconsistentwith thisrulewhen it makes availableorpublishesanypublicrecord; however, in each instance, the justificationforthedeletion shallbeprovided fullyin writing. k) Entities Subject toRule. 1)This ruleapplies totheSupreme Court, the CourtofAppeals, thesuperiorcourts, thedistrictandmunicipalcourts, andthefollowing judicial agencies: i) Alljudicial organizations thatareoverseenbyacourt, including entitiesthataredesignated asagencies, departments, committees, boards, commissions, taskforces, andsimilargroups; ii) The theDistrict and larassociations of judicialofficersandemployees; iii) TheWashington StateOfficeofCivilLegal Aidandthe WashingtonStateOffice ofPublicDefense; and iv) Allsubgroupsoftheentitieslistedinthissection (k)(1). COMMENT: Theelectedcourtclerks andtheirstaffarenotincluded inthisrulebecause (1) theyarecovered bythePublicRecords Actand 2) thatare coveredby thisrule. 2) Thisrule doesnotapply totheWashingtonState BarAssociation. Public access aproposedGeneral Rule12.4, pendingbeforetheSupremeCourt\]. 3) Ajudicialofficerisnotacourtor judicial agency. COMMENT: Thisprovision protects judgesandcourtcommissionersfromhaving to respondpersonallyto publicrecords requests. Recordsrequests would instead gotothe 4) Anattorneyorentityappointedby acourtor judicialagency toprovidelegal representation to alitigant inajudicial oradministrative proceeding doesnot becomeajudicial agencybyvirtue ofthatappointment. 5) Aperson orentity entrusted byajudicialofficer, court, orjudicial agencywith the storageandmaintenance ofits public records, whether part ofajudicial agencyor athirdparty, isnotajudicial agency. Suchperson oragencymay not respondto arequestforaccesstoadministrativerecords, absentexpress written authority fromthecourtorjudicialagencyorseparateauthorityincourt ruletogrant access tothedocuments. COMMENT: Judiciale-mails and otherdocuments sometimesresideonITservers, someareinoff-sitephysicalstoragefacilities. Thisprovisionprohibits anentitythat operatestheITserverfromdisclosing judicialrecords. Theentityis merelyabailee, holding therecordson behalfofa courtorjudicialagency, ratherthananownerofthe records havingindependentauthorityto release them. Similarly, if acourtorjudicial agencyputsitspaper recordsin storagewithanotherentity, the otherentitycannot disclose therecords. In eitherinstance, itisthecourtorjudicial agency thatneedsto makethedecisionasto releasing therecords. Therecords requestneedstobeaddressed bythe havingcontrolovertheITserverorthestorage area. Ontheotherhand, ifacourtor judicialagency archives itsrecords withthestatearchivist, relinquishingbycontractits ownauthority astodisposition of therecords, thearchivist wouldhaveseparate authority todisclose therecords. Because of is paragraph 6) wouldapplytoelectronic records, suchase-mails (andtheir metadata) andtelephone records, among awiderange ofotherrecords. l) Exemptions. Inadditiontoexemptions referredto insection (j), thefollowing categories ofadministrative recordsareexemptfrompublicaccess: 1) Requestsforjudicialethics opinions; 2)Minutes ofmeetings held exclusivelyamongjudges, alongwithanystaff; COMMENT: Meetingminutesdonotalwayscontaininformation thatneedstobe withheldfrompublicaccess. Courtshavediscretion whethertorelease meeting minutes, because anexemption fromthis rulemerelymeansthatadocument isnot requiredto be disclosed. Disclosure would beappropriate if thedocument doesnotcontain information ofa confidential, sensitive, or protected nature. Courtsandjudicialagencies are encouraged to carefullyconsiderwhethersome, or all, oftheirmeetingminutesshould be opentopublicaccess. Adopting alocalruleonthisissuewould assistthe publicin knowing whichtypesofminutesareaccessibleand whicharenot. 3) Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations, andintra-agencymemorandumsin whichopinionsareexpressed or policiesformulated orrecommended areexempt underthisrule, except thata specificrecord isnotexempt whenpubliclycited by acourtoragencyinconnection withany courtor agencyaction. Thisexemption appliestoarecord onlywhile afinaldecisionispending onthe issuethatis being addressedinthatrecord; oncethefinal decisionhasbeenmade, therecordis no longercovered bythisexemption. Forpurposesofdocuments related tobudget budgetary authority toadoptthebudget forthatyearor biennium. 4)Evaluations andrecommendationsconcerning candidatesseeking appointment or employment withinacourt orjudicialagency; COMMENT: Paragraph (4) isintendedtoencompass documents suchasthoseofthe inclusion onalist ofattorneyswho arespecially qualifiedtorepresent clients incapital cases. 5)Personalidentifying information, including homecontact information, SocialSecurity numbers, dateofbirth, and identification/securityphotographs; 6)Documents relatedtoan expert, investigator, orotherservices, anyreportorfindings submittedtothe attorney orcourt orjudicialagency bytheexpert, investigator, orotherservice provider, andtheinvoicing oftheexpert, investigator orotherservice provider duringthependencyof thecaseinanycourt. Payment recordsarenotexempt, providedthat theydonot includemedicalrecords, attorney workproduct, informationprotected byattorney-clientprivilege, information sealedbyacourt, orotherwise exemptinformation; 7)Documents, records, files, investigativenotes andreports, includingthecomplaint andtheidentity ofthecomplainant, associated witha judicial agency's internalinvestigation ofacomplaintagainst thecourtorjudicialagency orits contractors duringthecourse oftheinvestigation. Theoutcomeofthecourtor judicialagency 8)\[Reserved\]; 9)Family courtmediation files; and 10)Juvenilecourt probation socialfiles. 11) Thoseportions ofrecords containing specificandunique vulnerability assessments orspecificand uniqueemergency andescaperesponse plans, the disclosure ofwhich wouldhaveasubstantiallikelihood ofthreatening thesecurity 12) ThefollowingrecordsoftheCertifiedProfessional GuardianBoard: i) Investigative recordscompiled bytheBoardasaresultof aninvestigation conducted bytheBoard aspartoftheapplication process, whilea regulations, orasaresultofanyotherinvestigationconducted by the Board whileaninvestigationisinprocess. Investigative records related to agrievance becomeopentopublicinspectiononcethe investigation is completed. ii) Deliberative recordscompiled bytheBoard or apanelorcommittee ofthe Boardas partofadisciplinary process. iii) Agrievanceshallbeopento publicaccess, along withany response tothe grievancesubmittedbytheprofessional guardianoragency, oncethe investigation into thegrievancehasbeencompletedoronceadecisionhas beenmadethatnoinvestigation willbeconducted. Thenameofthe professional guardian oragency shallnotberedacted fromthegrievance. CHAMBERS RECORDS m) ChambersRecords. Chambers recordsarenotadministrative recordsandarenot subjecttodisclosure. COMMENT: Access tochambersrecords couldnecessitate a judicialofficer having toreviewall recordsto protect against disclosingcase sensitiveinformation orotherinformation that would intrudeontheindependence ofjudicial decision-making. Thiswouldeffectively make thejudicial officeradefactopublicrecordsofficer andcould greatly interferewithjudicialfunctions. 1) judicialofficer orchambersstaff, andismaintainedunderchamberscontrol, whetherdirectlyrelated toanofficial judicialproceeding, themanagementofthe lawclerk andanyotherstaffwhen providing supportdirectly tothejudicialofficeratchambers. COMMENT: Some judicialemployees, particularly insmall jurisdictions, splittheir time between performingchambers dutiesandperformingothercourtduties. Anemployee records aresubjectto disclosure maydepend onwhether theemployeewasacting in a chambersstafffunctionor anadministrative stafffunctionwithrespectto thatrecord. Records mayremainunderchamberscontroleventhough theyarestoredelsewhere. For owned orworkplace-assigned computer, laptop computer, cellphone, andsimilar electronic devices wouldstillbechambers records. Asafurtherexample, recordsthatare stored forajudicialchambersonexternal serverswouldstillbeunderchambers control tothesame extent as iftherecordswerestoreddirectly within thechambers. However, recordsthatareotherwise subjecttodisclosure shouldnotbeallowed tobemovedinto chamberscontrol asameansofavoidingdisclosure. 2)Courtrecords andadministrativerecords do notbecome chambersrecords merely becausetheyareinthepossession or custodyof ajudicialofficer orchambers staff. COMMENT: Chambers recordsdonotchange incharacter byvirtue ofbeing accessible toanother chambers. Forexample, adatabasethatis sharedbymultiplejudges and baseisonlybeingusedbyjudgesandtheirchambers staff. IMPLEMENTATION ANDEFFECTIVE DATE n) BestPractices. Bestpractice guidelines adopted bytheSupreme Court may berelied uponin actinguponpublicrequests fordocuments. o) Effective DateofRule. 1)Thisrulewillgointoeffect onafuture date tobedeterminedbytheSupreme Courtbasedupon arecommendationfrom theBoardfor Judicial Administration. Therulewill applytorecordsthatarecreated on orafterthatdate. COMMENT: Adelayedeffective dateisbeing usedtoallow timefor developmentof best practices, training, andimplementation. Theeffective datewill beadded totherule onceithasbeendetermined. 2)Publicaccess torecordsthat arecreated before that datearetobeanalyzed according toothercourtrules, applicable statutes, andthecommon law balancing test. ThePublic Records Act, chapter42.56 RCW, doesnotapplytojudicial records, butitmay beusedfor non-bindingguidance. Adopted effective January1, 2016.\]