The Washington Joint Legislative Audit & Review Committee (JLARC) has published 2021 public agency public records data, which includes data from
78% of Washington cities and towns.
In 2017, the Legislature passed RCW 40.14.026, which requires agencies that spend over $100,000 in staff and legal costs associated with maintaining public records and
responding to records requests to report on these metrics to JLARC.
During a JLARC meeting on January 4, JLARC staff presented the 2021 public records data that includes reporting from state, local, and special district agencies. In total, 22% of cities and towns met the $100,000 threshold and submitted data to JLARC.
According to the report, cities received a whopping 127,503 public records requests in 2021, up from 118,622 in 2020. The cost to cities of fulfilling records requests was $25,648,644 and cities spent $55,830,186 on managing and retaining
records.
| 2020 | 2021 |
|---|
Total requests received (Jan. 1 – Dec. 31) | 118,622 | 127,503 |
Costs of fulfilling records requests | $24,497,200 | $25,648,644 |
Costs incurred for managing and retaining records | $64,561,768 | $55,830,186 |
Many agencies reported anecdotally that they have received a higher volume of requests and that requests are now requesting higher volumes of information or are more complicated in nature.
Cities also reported 40 court claims filed alleging a violation, which has increased every year since 2018.
Cities spent $2,237,679 on litigation costs associated with public records requests in 2021 (31% of statewide total).
If you have questions or concerns about registering an account or reporting data, please feel free to review the agency guidance document, revisions to the agency guidance document, or the FAQ document.
Additional questions may be directed to JLARCPublicRecStudy@leg.wa.gov.