Public Records Act Deskbook: Washington's Public Disclosure and Open Public Meetings Laws

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This publication, with its 2020 Supplement, provides in-depth coverage of significant Washington appellate court opinions addressing:

• The definition of a "public record."
• Procedure under the PRA, including application of the injunction standard under RCW 42.56.540, interpretation of the PRA's statute of limitations, and 2017 statutory amendments to address "bot" requests and requests for "all records."
• Exemptions, including the interaction between the PRA and privacy protections under the Washington Constitution, how the "common interest" doctrine impacts the work product exemption, access to employee misconduct records, retroactive application of newly enacted exemptions to pending PRA requests, and detailed rules adopted by the legislature governing police "body cams" that include specific privacy protections and redaction and other procedural provisions.
• PRA penalties, including when the daily penalty can be issued per page and how courts can use variable-rate penalties, an extreme example in which reliance on bad legal advice can amount to bad faith, and how a court may properly consider the size of an agency as a basis for reducing a penalty award.
• Open Public Meetings Act, including guidance on "serial meetings" and when a committee is subject to the OPMA, and affirmation that grounds for executive session, like PRA exemptions, should be narrowly construed.

The Public Records Act Deskbook: Washington's Public Disclosure and Open Public Meetings Laws is a joint effort by practitioners representing both requestors and agencies. To provide an accurate and balanced perspective, every chapter that was written by a public agency practitioner was edited by someone who primarily represents records requestors, and vice-versa; and a number of chapters have been co-written by agency and requestor authors. One of the Editors-in-Chief (Eric M. Stahl) is an attorney who primarily represents news requestors and the other (Ramsey Ramerman) is one who represents agencies.

This publication includes a supplement. If you previously purchased the main edition and now wish to purchase just the supplement, please call 800-223-1940 to place your order.

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