Public records by state · Washington
Washington Public Records Act: fees, the exemption log, penalties, deadlines
The Public Records Act is chapter 42.56 RCW: what an agency may charge and what it may not, the log that travels with every withholding, the daily penalty, and the five business day clock.
Request volume keeps climbing. AI-generated requests, social media, and reporters add to the queue, and records staff does not grow with it. In most offices review still happens one page at a time in Adobe, by one or two people. The requests now pull in texts, photos, and whole email exports, not just memos. Washington sharpens the squeeze: those review hours are the one cost the act never lets an agency bill.
Fees
What an agency may charge. Copying, and only copying.
Start with what is free. Inspection carries no fee. Locating records and making them available carries no fee. RCW 42.56.120(1). The publishable actual costs under RCW 42.56.070(7) can include staff time to copy and send records, never time spent reviewing or redacting them.
THE COST THE ACT NEVER FUNDS
Every redaction hour in Washington is unfunded. The statute prices copies and nothing else. A production that takes forty hours of review bills the same dimes as one that takes ten minutes. The review time is the real cost, and it comes out of the agency's own budget.
Agencies that publish a cost statement after notice and hearing charge those actual costs. RCW 42.56.120(2)(a), 42.56.070(7). The rest may charge the default schedule, once their rules declare why calculating actual costs would be unduly burdensome. Charges combine when more than one applies. RCW 42.56.120(2)(b) and (c).
| Copying charge | Default amount | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Photocopies | 15 cents a page | RCW 42.56.120(2)(b) |
| Records scanned into electronic format | 10 cents a page | RCW 42.56.120(2)(b) |
| Electronic files uploaded or transmitted | 5 cents per each four files | RCW 42.56.120(2)(b) |
| Transmission in electronic format | 10 cents a gigabyte | RCW 42.56.120(2)(b) |
| Storage media, envelopes, and postage | Actual cost | RCW 42.56.120(2)(b) |
- The $2 flat fee. For any request where the agency documents that allowed costs reach $2. Not repeated after the first installment. RCW 42.56.120(2)(d).
- Customized service charge. Only for requests needing information technology expertise to prepare data compilations or customized electronic access. Notice with an explanation and estimate comes first, and the requester may amend to reduce the cost. RCW 42.56.120(3).
- Deposits and installments. Up to 10 percent of the estimate as a deposit, and a charge for each installment as provided. An unclaimed installment ends the duty to fulfill the balance. RCW 42.56.120(4).
- Routinely posted records. No copying charges for access to or downloading of records the agency routinely posts on its public website. RCW 42.56.120(2)(e).
The withholding log
Every withholding must explain itself.
This is the act's signature paperwork. A response that refuses inspection of any record, in whole or in part, must include a statement of the specific exemption authorizing the withholding and a brief explanation of how the exemption applies to the record withheld. RCW 42.56.210(3).
A statute number alone is not an explanation, and a silent redaction is not a response. The duty runs record by record.
The attorney general's model rules describe the log requesters and courts expect, advisory but followed. WAC 44-14-04004(5)(b):
- Identify the record. Type, date, page count, and author or recipient, unless that identity is itself exempt.
- Cite the exemption. The specific statute relied on for each withheld record or redaction.
- Explain briefly. How the exemption applies to that record, enough to judge whether it was properly invoked.
Kept as you go, it doubles as the agency's defense file when a withholding is challenged.
When a withholding is challenged
What a wrongful denial costs.
How review works
A denied requester moves the superior court to order the agency to show cause. The burden sits with the agency, review is de novo, and the court may examine the records in camera, mindful of the policy that free and open examination of public records is in the public interest. RCW 42.56.550(1) and (3).
Estimates are reviewable too. The agency carries the burden of proving a time or charge estimate reasonable. RCW 42.56.550(2).
COSTS + ATTORNEY FEES
A requester who prevails shall be awarded all costs, including reasonable attorney fees. The word is shall. RCW 42.56.550(4).
UP TO $100 A DAY
Up to $100 more for each day the requester was denied the right to inspect or copy the record, at the court's discretion. RCW 42.56.550(4).
ONE YEAR TO SUE
An action must be filed within one year of the agency's claim of exemption or the last production of a record on a partial or installment basis. RCW 42.56.550(6).
The clock
Five business days, five permitted answers.
Within five business days of receipt, an agency must take one of five routes. RCW 42.56.520(1):
- Produce the record.
- Link to it on the agency website. A requester who cannot access it there gets copies.
- Acknowledge and estimate. A reasonable estimate of the time the agency needs to respond.
- Ask for clarification, with an estimate.
- Deny, carrying the exemption and explanation RCW 42.56.210(3) requires.
More time rides on a reasonable estimate. Additional time may rest on clarifying the request, locating and assembling records, notifying third persons or agencies affected, or determining whether any of the information is exempt. RCW 42.56.520.
Clarification has teeth. If the requester never answers and the entire request is unclear, no response is owed. Clear portions still get answered. RCW 42.56.520.
Produce in installments. Records go out promptly, in installments as parts of a larger set are made ready. RCW 42.56.080(2). The standard over all of it: the fullest assistance to inquirers and the most timely possible action on requests. RCW 42.56.100.
Exemptions
Everything is public until a specific exemption says otherwise.
An agency must make every public record available unless it falls within a specific exemption in chapter 42.56 RCW or an other statute which exempts or prohibits disclosure. RCW 42.56.070(1). The chapter's own exemptions run from RCW 42.56.230 through 42.56.475. Seen most:
- 42.56.230 Personal information.
- 42.56.240 Investigative, law enforcement, and crime victims.
- 42.56.250 Employment and licensing.
- 42.56.270 Financial, commercial, and proprietary information.
- 42.56.280 Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations, and intra-agency memorandums.
- 42.56.290 Agency party to a controversy.
- 42.56.420 Security.
Hundreds more sit in statutes outside the chapter; the model rules have each agency publish the list it believes applies to its records. WAC 44-14-06001.
Redact and release. An exemption is inapplicable to the extent the protected information can be deleted from the record, and statistical information not descriptive of readily identifiable persons cannot be withheld at all. RCW 42.56.210(1). The default output is a redacted copy plus a log entry. Withholding an entire record is the exception.
Practical notes
For the person actually answering requests.
- Appoint and publicly identify a public records officer. Every state and local agency names one point of contact who oversees compliance, published where the public can find it. RCW 42.56.580.
- A requested record cannot be destroyed. If it was scheduled for destruction, the agency keeps it until the request is resolved. RCW 42.56.100.
- Never ask why. Agencies shall not distinguish among requesters, and purpose may be demanded only to test narrow bars like the commercial list restriction. RCW 42.56.080(2).
- Third parties can be told first. Notice to a person named in a record is optional, and that person or the agency may ask the superior court to enjoin examination. RCW 42.56.540.
Washington Public Records Act questions, answered from the statute
How long does a Washington agency have to respond to a public records request?
Five business days after receipt. Within that window the agency must produce the record, link to it on the agency website, acknowledge and give a reasonable estimate of the time needed, ask for clarification with an estimate, or deny. RCW 42.56.520.
Can a Washington agency charge for staff time spent redacting records?
No. Inspection and locating records carry no fee, and the act's only charges are for copying. Review and redaction time is not a chargeable cost. The narrow exception is a customized service charge for requests needing information technology expertise to prepare data compilations. RCW 42.56.120, 42.56.070(7).
What are Washington's default copying charges?
Fifteen cents a page for photocopies, 10 cents a page for scanned records, 5 cents per each four electronic files, 10 cents a gigabyte for transmission, plus actual media and postage costs. Charges combine. An agency may instead charge a documented $2 flat fee. RCW 42.56.120(2).
What has to accompany withheld or redacted records in Washington?
The response must name the specific exemption and briefly explain how it applies to each record withheld. RCW 42.56.210(3). The attorney general's model rules describe the practice: a log identifying each record's type, date, page count, and author or recipient, with the citation and explanation. WAC 44-14-04004(5)(b).
What can a court award a requester who wins a Public Records Act case?
All costs, including reasonable attorney fees. That award is mandatory for a prevailing requester. The court may also add up to $100 for each day the record was denied. The agency carries the burden throughout. Suit must be filed within one year. RCW 42.56.550.
How should an agency handle a request for a whole email export?
Email about agency business is a public record whatever its form. RCW 42.56.010. Produce in installments as batches are assembled and charge each installment as it goes out. RCW 42.56.080(2), 42.56.120(4). Redact the exempt parts rather than withhold whole threads, and log every withholding. RCW 42.56.210(1), (3).
This page is general information, not legal advice. The statute is the authority: read it at app.leg.wa.gov and check anything that matters before it goes out.
The review time is the whole cost.
Washington pays agencies for copies and never for review. RecordBeacon reads a records set, including whole email exports, flags content that may be exempt, and holds every mark for a named reviewer. The release records who decided what, which is the record you want when a withholding is challenged. The first fifteen documents are free with no card.
Or read how it works on the public records software page.