Write to the Point

Make the public records ‘gotcha’ less lucrative

I agree with Rep. Schmick, let’s take the “gotcha” out of public records requests. That can be done by helping jurisdictions with their filing system, not by prohibiting public disclosure.

The Joint Legislature Audit and Review Committee has been tracking statistics on requests since 2017. It shows the number of court claims against reporting agencies declined slightly between 2018 and 2022.

On average, less than 0.1% of records requests lead to court claims. Less than 1% of state and local agency expenditures is spent on records requests. The mo...