School district PRA requests

AN ACT Relating to providing protections for school districts 1
against burdensome public records requests; amending RCW 42.56.070, 2
42.56.080, 42.56.060, 42.56.520, and 42.56.010; adding a new section 3
to chapter 28A.320 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 42.56 4
RCW. 5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:6
Sec. 1. RCW 42.56.070 and 2017 c 304 s 1 are each amended to 7
read as follows: 8
(1) Each agency, in accordance with published rules, shall make 9
available for public inspection and copying all public records, 10
unless the record falls within the specific exemptions of subsection 11
(8) or (9) of this section, this chapter, or other statute which 12
exempts or prohibits disclosure of specific information or records. 13
To the extent required to prevent an unreasonable invasion of 14
personal privacy interests protected by this chapter, an agency shall 15
delete identifying details in a manner consistent with this chapter 16
when it makes available or publishes any public record; however, in 17
each case, the justification for the deletion shall be explained 18
fully in writing. 19
(2) For informational purposes, each agency shall publish and 20
maintain a current list containing every law, other than those listed 21
S-3624.1
SENATE BILL 5920
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Wellman, Nobles, and C. Wilson
Prefiled 12/19/25. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections.
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in this chapter, that the agency believes exempts or prohibits 1
disclosure of specific information or records of the agency. An 2
agency's failure to list an exemption shall not affect the efficacy 3
of any exemption. 4
(3) Each local agency shall maintain and make available for 5
public inspection and copying a current index providing identifying 6
information as to the following records issued, adopted, or 7
promulgated after January 1, 1973: 8
(a) Final opinions, including concurring and dissenting opinions, 9
as well as orders, made in the adjudication of cases;10
(b) Those statements of policy and interpretations of policy, 11
statute, and the Constitution which have been adopted by the agency;12
(c) Administrative staff manuals and instructions to staff that 13
affect a member of the public; 14
(d) Planning policies and goals, and interim and final planning 15
decisions; 16
(e) Factual staff reports and studies, factual consultant's 17
reports and studies, scientific reports and studies, and any other 18
factual information derived from tests, studies, reports, or surveys, 19
whether conducted by public employees or others; and20
(f) Correspondence, and materials referred to therein, by and 21
with the agency relating to any regulatory, supervisory, or 22
enforcement responsibilities of the agency, whereby the agency 23
determines, or opines upon, or is asked to determine or opine upon, 24
the rights of the state, the public, a subdivision of state 25
government, or of any private party. 26
(4) A local agency need not maintain such an index, if to do so 27
would be unduly burdensome, but it shall in that event:28
(a) Issue and publish a formal order specifying the reasons why 29
and the extent to which compliance would unduly burden or interfere 30
with agency operations; and 31
(b) Make available for public inspection and copying all indexes 32
maintained for agency use. 33
(5) Each state agency shall, by rule, establish and implement a 34
system of indexing for the identification and location of the 35
following records: 36
(a) All records issued before July 1, 1990, for which the agency 37
has maintained an index; 38
(b) Final orders entered after June 30, 1990, that are issued in 39
adjudicative proceedings as defined in RCW 34.05.010 and that contain 40
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an analysis or decision of substantial importance to the agency in 1
carrying out its duties; 2
(c) Declaratory orders entered after June 30, 1990, that are 3
issued pursuant to RCW 34.05.240 and that contain an analysis or 4
decision of substantial importance to the agency in carrying out its 5
duties; 6
(d) Interpretive statements as defined in RCW 34.05.010 that were 7
entered after June 30, 1990; and 8
(e) Policy statements as defined in RCW 34.05.010 that were 9
entered after June 30, 1990. 10
Rules establishing systems of indexing shall include, but not be 11
limited to, requirements for the form and content of the index, its 12
location and availability to the public, and the schedule for 13
revising or updating the index. State agencies that have maintained 14
indexes for records issued before July 1, 1990, shall continue to 15
make such indexes available for public inspection and copying. 16
Information in such indexes may be incorporated into indexes prepared 17
pursuant to this subsection. State agencies may satisfy the 18
requirements of this subsection by making available to the public 19
indexes prepared by other parties but actually used by the agency in 20
its operations. State agencies shall make indexes available for 21
public inspection and copying. State agencies may charge a fee to 22
cover the actual costs of providing individual mailed copies of 23
indexes. 24
(6) A public record may be relied on, used, or cited as precedent 25
by an agency against a party other than an agency and it may be 26
invoked by the agency for any other purpose only if:27
(a) It has been indexed in an index available to the public; or28
(b) Parties affected have timely notice (actual or constructive) 29
of the terms thereof. 30
(7)(a) Each agency may establish, maintain, and make available 31
for public inspection and copying a statement of the actual costs 32
that it charges for providing photocopies or electronically produced 33
copies, of public records and a statement of the factors and manner 34
used to determine the actual costs. Any statement of costs may be 35
adopted by an agency only after providing notice and public hearing.36
(((a)))(i)(A) In determining the actual cost for providing copies 37
of public records, an agency may include all costs directly incident 38
to copying such public records including: 39
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(((A))) (I) The actual cost of the paper and the per page cost 1
for use of agency copying equipment; and 2
(((B))) (II) The actual cost of the electronic production or file 3
transfer of the record and the use of any cloud-based data storage 4
and processing service. 5
(((ii))) (B) In determining other actual costs for providing 6
copies of public records, an agency may include all costs directly 7
incident to: 8
(((A))) (I) Shipping such public records, including the cost of 9
postage or delivery charges and the cost of any container or envelope 10
used; and 11
(((B))) (II) Transmitting such records in an electronic format, 12
including the cost of any transmission charge and use of any physical 13
media device provided by the agency. 14
(((b))) (ii) In determining the actual costs for providing copies 15
of public records, an agency may not include staff salaries, 16
benefits, or other general administrative or overhead charges, unless 17
those costs are directly related to the actual cost of copying the 18
public records. Staff time to copy and send the requested public 19
records may be included in an agency's costs. 20
(b)(i) Except for requests by news media, parents or guardians of 21
students enrolled in the district, or district employees, school 22
districts may establish a supplementary cost schedule, in addition to 23
any determination of costs under (a) of this subsection, for requests 24
that are overly burdensome in terms of amount of information, staff 25
time, materials produced, or other administrative or overhead costs.26
(ii) A school district must notify the requestor when such a cost 27
schedule would apply, provide a total of the costs, and receive 28
acceptance from the requestor for the charges before processing the 29
request.30
(iii) The supplementary cost schedule may be based on the amount 31
of information, staff time, materials produced, or other 32
administrative or overhead costs. Costs must be limited to the direct 33
costs of processing the request. Processing costs may include costs 34
associated with staff time used to locate, compile, produce, review, 35
or copy records, including reviewing and responding to the request. 36
Any charge or rate applied for the use of staff time may not exceed 37
the hourly rate of the staff fulfilling the request.38
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(iv) Any district opting to utilize a supplementary cost schedule 1
must adopt a formal school district policy that is publicly 2
available.3
(v) Any individual may request a waiver of the supplementary cost 4
schedule based on a showing of financial hardship.5
(vi) The Washington state school directors' association may 6
establish a model supplementary cost schedule and model policy for 7
when school districts may impose such costs, including application of 8
a waiver based on financial hardship.9
(8) This chapter shall not be construed as giving authority to 10
any agency, the office of the secretary of the senate, or the office 11
of the chief clerk of the house of representatives to give, sell or 12
provide access to lists of individuals requested for commercial 13
purposes, and agencies, the office of the secretary of the senate, 14
and the office of the chief clerk of the house of representatives 15
shall not do so unless specifically authorized or directed by law: 16
PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That lists of applicants for professional licenses 17
and of professional licensees shall be made available to those 18
professional associations or educational organizations recognized by 19
their professional licensing or examination board, upon payment of a 20
reasonable charge therefor: PROVIDED FURTHER, That such recognition 21
may be refused only for a good cause pursuant to a hearing under the 22
provisions of chapter 34.05 RCW, the administrative procedure act.23
(9)(a) Except for requests made by news media, parents or 24
guardians of students enrolled in the district, or district 25
employees, school districts may petition a court to:26
(i) Deny requests that are vague, overly broad, or unreasonable 27
in scope, including requests that do not have enough information and 28
requests that contain an excessive amount of information or require 29
more than a reasonable effort to clarify; or30
(ii) Issue a protective order against a request found to have 31
sought records with the intent to substantially interrupt the 32
performance of a government function. The court may consider a 33
requestor's pattern or history of requests when resolving a 34
complaint.35
(b) Prior to petitioning a court under (a) of this subsection, a 36
school district must notify the requestor of the district's 37
determination and provide the requestor with an opportunity to 38
clarify or narrow the request. If the requestor fails to respond 39
after 30 days or provides a response that does not clarify or narrow 40
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the request, a school district may petition a court as provided under 1
this subsection. 2
Sec. 2. RCW 42.56.080 and 2023 c 67 s 1 are each amended to read 3
as follows: 4
(1)(a) A public records request must be for identifiable records. 5
A request for all or substantially all records prepared, owned, used, 6
or retained by an agency is not a valid request for identifiable 7
records under this chapter, provided that a request for all records 8
regarding a particular topic or containing a particular keyword or 9
name shall not be considered a request for all of an agency's 10
records. 11
(b) A request for a recording required to be maintained by a 12
school district board of directors under RCW 42.30.035(2) shall only 13
be considered a valid request for an identifiable record when the 14
date of the recording, or a range of dates, is specified in the 15
request. When searching for and providing identifiable recordings, no 16
search criteria except date must be considered by the school 17
district. 18
(2) Public records shall be available for inspection and copying, 19
and agencies shall, upon request for identifiable public records, 20
make them promptly available to any person including, if applicable, 21
on a partial or installment basis as records that are part of a 22
larger set of requested records are assembled or made ready for 23
inspection or disclosure. ((Agencies)) Except as provided in RCW 24
42.56.070(9), agencies shall not deny a request for identifiable 25
public records solely on the basis that the request is overbroad. 26
Agencies shall not distinguish among persons requesting records, and 27
such persons shall not be required to provide information as to the 28
purpose for the request except to establish whether inspection and 29
copying would violate RCW 42.56.070(8) or 42.56.240(14), or other 30
statute which exempts or prohibits disclosure of specific information 31
or records to certain persons. Agency facilities shall be made 32
available to any person for the copying of public records except when 33
and to the extent that this would unreasonably disrupt the operations 34
of the agency. Agencies shall honor requests received in person 35
during an agency's normal office hours, or by mail or email, for 36
identifiable public records unless exempted by provisions of this 37
chapter. ((No)) Except for requests made to school districts, no 38
official format is required for making a records request; however, 39
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agencies may recommend that requestors submit requests using an 1
agency provided form or web page. A records request to a school 2
district must be made to the designated public records officer, as 3
described in RCW 42.56.580 and section 3 of this act, including the 4
use of any school district provided form or web page.5
(3) An agency may deny a bot request that is one of multiple 6
requests from the requestor to the agency within a twenty-four hour 7
period, if the agency establishes that responding to the multiple 8
requests would cause excessive interference with other essential 9
functions of the agency. For purposes of this subsection, "bot 10
request" means a request for public records that an agency reasonably 11
believes was automatically generated by a computer program or script.12
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 28A.320 13
RCW to read as follows: 14
A school district must provide clear and accessible instructions 15
on how to submit a public records request on the district's website, 16
including designation of a public records officer and contact 17
information. 18
Sec. 4. RCW 42.56.060 and 1992 c 139 s 11 are each amended to 19
read as follows: 20
(1) No public agency, public official, public employee, or 21
custodian shall be liable, nor shall a cause of action exist, for any 22
loss or damage based upon the release of a public record if the 23
public agency, public official, public employee, or custodian acted 24
in good faith in attempting to comply with the provisions of this 25
chapter. 26
(2) No school district or school district employee shall be 27
liable, nor shall a cause of action exist, for any loss or damage 28
based upon the denial or delay of the release of a public record if 29
the school district or school district employee acted in good faith 30
in attempting to comply with the provisions of this chapter.31
Sec. 5. RCW 42.56.520 and 2017 c 303 s 3 are each amended to 32
read as follows: 33
(1) Responses to requests for public records shall be made 34
promptly by agencies, the office of the secretary of the senate, and 35
the office of the chief clerk of the house of representatives. Within 36
five business days of receiving a public record request, an agency, 37
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the office of the secretary of the senate, or the office of the chief 1
clerk of the house of representatives must respond in one of the ways 2
provided in this subsection (1): 3
(a) Providing the record; 4
(b) Providing an internet address and link on the agency's 5
website to the specific records requested, except that if the 6
requester notifies the agency that he or she cannot access the 7
records through the internet, then the agency must provide copies of 8
the record or allow the requester to view copies using an agency 9
computer; 10
(c) Acknowledging that the agency, the office of the secretary of 11
the senate, or the office of the chief clerk of the house of 12
representatives has received the request and providing a reasonable 13
estimate of the time the agency, the office of the secretary of the 14
senate, or the office of the chief clerk of the house of 15
representatives will require to respond to the request;16
(d) Acknowledging that the agency, the office of the secretary of 17
the senate, or the office of the chief clerk of the house of 18
representatives has received the request and asking the requestor to 19
provide clarification for a request that is unclear, and providing, 20
to the greatest extent possible, a reasonable estimate of the time 21
the agency, the office of the secretary of the senate, or the office 22
of the chief clerk of the house of representatives will require to 23
respond to the request if it is not clarified; or 24
(e) Denying the public record request. 25
(2)(a) Additional time required to respond to a request may be 26
based upon the need to clarify the intent of the request, to locate 27
and assemble the information requested, to notify third persons or 28
agencies affected by the request, or to determine whether any of the 29
information requested is exempt and that a denial should be made as 30
to all or part of the request. 31
(b)(i) School districts are authorized additional time to respond 32
to out-of-state requests.33
(ii) A school district must provide an out-of-state requestor a 34
reasonable estimate of the time the district will require to respond 35
to the request.36
(c)(i) For a school district of the second class as defined in 37
RCW 28A.300.065, additional time required to respond to a request may 38
also be based upon the resources of the school district, including 39
available staff and administrative or overhead resources.40
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(ii) A school district of the second class must provide a 1
requestor a reasonable estimate of the time the district will require 2
to respond to the request.3
(3)(a) In acknowledging receipt of a public record request that 4
is unclear, an agency, the office of the secretary of the senate, or 5
the office of the chief clerk of the house of representatives may ask 6
the requestor to clarify what information the requestor is seeking.7
(b) If the requestor fails to respond to an agency request to 8
clarify the request, and the entire request is unclear, the agency, 9
the office of the secretary of the senate, or the office of the chief 10
clerk of the house of representatives need not respond to it. 11
Otherwise, the agency must respond, pursuant to this section, to 12
those portions of the request that are clear. 13
(4) Denials of requests must be accompanied by a written 14
statement of the specific reasons therefor. Agencies, the office of 15
the secretary of the senate, and the office of the chief clerk of the 16
house of representatives shall establish mechanisms for the most 17
prompt possible review of decisions denying inspection, and such 18
review shall be deemed completed at the end of the second business 19
day following the denial of inspection and shall constitute final 20
agency action or final action by the office of the secretary of the 21
senate or the office of the chief clerk of the house of 22
representatives for the purposes of judicial review.23
Sec. 6. RCW 42.56.010 and 2022 c 71 s 6 are each amended to read 24
as follows: 25
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 26
unless the context clearly requires otherwise. 27
(1) "Agency" includes all state agencies and all local agencies. 28
"State agency" includes every state office, department, division, 29
bureau, board, commission, or other state agency. "Local agency" 30
includes every county, city, town, municipal corporation, quasi-31
municipal corporation, or special purpose district, or any office, 32
department, division, bureau, board, commission, or agency thereof, 33
or other local public agency. "Agency" does not include a 34
comprehensive cancer center participating in a collaborative 35
arrangement as defined in RCW 28B.10.930 that is operated in 36
conformance with RCW 28B.10.930. 37
(2) "News media" means any newspaper, magazine or other 38
periodical, book publisher, news agency, wire service, radio or 39
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television station or network, cable or satellite station or network, 1
or audio or audiovisual production company, or any entity that is in 2
the regular business of news gathering and disseminating news or 3
information to the public by any means including, but not limited to, 4
print, broadcast, photographic, mechanical, internet, or electronic 5
distribution. 6
(3) "Person in interest" means the person who is the subject of a 7
record or any representative designated by that person, except that 8
if that person is under a legal disability, "person in interest" 9
means and includes the parent or duly appointed legal representative.10
(((3))) (4) "Public record" includes any writing containing 11
information relating to the conduct of government or the performance 12
of any governmental or proprietary function prepared, owned, used, or 13
retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or 14
characteristics. For the office of the secretary of the senate and 15
the office of the chief clerk of the house of representatives, public 16
records means legislative records as defined in RCW 40.14.100 and 17
also means the following: All budget and financial records; personnel 18
leave, travel, and payroll records; records of legislative sessions; 19
reports submitted to the legislature; and any other record designated 20
a public record by any official action of the senate or the house of 21
representatives. This definition does not include records that are 22
not otherwise required to be retained by the agency and are held by 23
volunteers who: 24
(a) Do not serve in an administrative capacity;25
(b) Have not been appointed by the agency to an agency board, 26
commission, or internship; and 27
(c) Do not have a supervisory role or delegated agency authority.28
(((4))) (5) "Writing" means handwriting, typewriting, printing, 29
photostating, photographing, and every other means of recording any 30
form of communication or representation including, but not limited 31
to, letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combination 32
thereof, and all papers, maps, magnetic or paper tapes, photographic 33
films and prints, motion picture, film and video recordings, magnetic 34
or punched cards, discs, drums, diskettes, sound recordings, and 35
other documents including existing data compilations from which 36
information may be obtained or translated. 37
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. A new section is added to chapter 42.56 38
RCW to read as follows: 39
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This chapter does not affect any existing right under the federal 1
family education rights and privacy act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. Sec. 2
1232g, as in effect on January 1, 2026, and RCW 28A.605.030.3
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